


there will come a poet

by prouveyrac



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Eventual Romance, M/M, Royalty AU, Vampires, also this was not intended but there are lowkey undertale and beauty and the beast vibes, prince patton ends up in the realm of vampire princes, the prologue is very storybook like, the rest of the fic will not be like that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24132340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prouveyrac/pseuds/prouveyrac
Summary: It has been one hundred years since that fateful fight when those sickened by pride and wrath were crushed under the weight of what they had done. The Wall of Vine and Thorn remained as well, perhaps serving as the only reminder that whatever undead was trapped inside might very well still lurk.Yet, for one hundred years, the Wall of Vine and Thorn remained impenetrable.And then, on the day of the hundredth-and-first year, there was an opening.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Side Logince, and the friendships are very important to me, main moxiety
Comments: 227
Kudos: 205





	1. a prologue

**Author's Note:**

> me in 2018: who are you
> 
> me in 2020: i'm you but somehow more obsessed with vampires

Once upon a time, in a kingdom not too far from where our hero hails, there lived a king and his four sons.

The King, ruling with an iron fist, flew his orange tapestries down his castle walls in hopes that, one day, his sons would expand his power across the country. A capital city bending to his beck and call was sufficient, but power knew no limits.

His eldest son, cunning and conniving, longed for the day that he could take his father’s throne. Deep in his heart, though, he knew he would never hold a flame to the kings before him, and his bitterness grew until it was all he saw.

His second son, handsome and charming, won the hearts of those who could only dream that their affections were returned. Favored and loved, with a dream in his beating heart, his pride spread through his veins like an elixir, sweet and just as deadly.

The duplicate, his third son, lived in the shadow of those before him. Isolated within his own existence, his lonesome state grew to greed, festering into a madness stemming from all that he could not have.

His fourth son, sending the queen to her grave, cast the kingdom into darkness with the omen of worse things to come. Unsettled by the prophecy and anxious for the destruction from his own hands, he receded into the castle walls, his jaded bite putting cracks in the foundation.

A corrupt family they were, and a corrupt kingdom they ruled. Their knights mounted not noble steeds but fearsome wolves, larger than life itself with strength even greater. Beast and man together (though the difference was thin), they prowled the forest awaiting all who traversed too closely to their domain.

Within those bounds, the capital city descended into tyranny. The wrath of the king proved too volatile for those subjected to him, yet too powerful to overrule. He denied his people freedom, denied his people  _ safety, _ and the people, forced and beaten, fell into line with a rope pulled taut.

The King and his princes, however, had a plan that clawed past their own ghastly home. Dominion over all, a kingdom forged with their vices at its heart. A legion led by beast, unstoppable to all who would try to face them.

Unstoppable, that is, to all but the Hartts.

A royal family with a bloodline steeped in courage and valor, they bore sons and daughters fit for the throne, fit for  _ battle. _ Made to vanquish those who yearned for nothing more than power, the Hartts, too, concocted a plan.

On the eve of the eldest son’s coronation, for the King’s wrath had grown into a plague upon the heart, they descended upon the cursed kingdom, their stags, bred for fortitude and grace, leaping through the wolves that bit at their ankles. Their knights, glorious and trained, cut down the ruthless barbarians that charged them, axes clashing against the knights’ greatswords. The Hartts’ mages, their magical barriers shimmering with golden light, pulled their magic from the heavens to put an end to the witches and warlocks that slithered from behind.

The knights, successful in fighting through the evils that pledged themselves loyal to destruction, ascended to the castle.

The castle sieged and the King slain, the kingdom was liberated by those of a kinder heart. The knights rejoiced and opened their arms wide to the free citizens with a promise that never again will they be subjected to the tyranny that once plagued them.

However, as all who hear this story know, peace was only momentary, for there was dark magic at work in the halls of the Four Princes’ fallen castle. Four beings, four _ monsters, _ descended from the castle, quick in speed with fangs sharper than any sword. Pouring into the city—a final, ruthless attempt to secure hold on a kingdom that was no longer their own—they tore through their own servants and knights, neither built for the monsters their young tyrants had become, and only turned to their liberated citizens when there was nothing else to be had. Overcome by the vices that plagued them, the undead princes succumbed to their monstrosities.

The last sight anyone ever caught of the princes was of the eldest, stripped of the kingdom he was destined to rule with that same tight grip. An eye gnarled and gashed, he let out a hiss that rattled through the forest before, with a heavy thunder clap, he slammed the castle doors shut and, as they connected, a barrier of thick roots and deadly thorns rose up to incircle the remains of the kingdom, thus shutting out those who were fortunate enough to avoid the wreckage, and shutting in any survivor who remained.

It has been one hundred years since that fateful fight when those sickened by pride and wrath were crushed under the weight of what they had done. The Kingdom of Hartt, closest to the site of destruction, remained unthreatened by those who once wished to squander it.

The Wall of Vine and Thorn remained as well, perhaps serving as the only reminder that whatever lurked within those earthly walls might very well still roam. 

Yet, for one hundred years, the wall of vine and thorn remained impenetrable.

And then, on the day of the hundredth-and-first year, there was an opening.

And then, on the day of the hundredth-and-first year, Prince Patton Hartt disappeared.


	2. chapter one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The vines, chains so tightly braided together that the knights of the Hartt Kingdom could neither slash them open nor burn them down, began to twist, and shift, and press inwards, and press outwards, and weave and unweave and tangle and shiver and, ultimately, open.
> 
> The Wall of Vine and Thorn, impenetrable for a century, had opened up a hole six feet tall, and just wide enough for a person to step through.
> 
> Patton, without hesitation, stepped through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for your feedback on the prologue!!! i hope you enjoy the official first chapter!!
> 
> warnings: light injuries, light blood

A twig crunched underneath Patton’s foot, and he tried not to startle too much.

It was silly of him to be so scared. He knew that there were worse things to be found in the Twisted Wood than a few misplaced branches.

Or maybe it _wasn’t_ silly of him to be so scared, because he _knew_ what lurked further in.

At least, he had been _taught_ what lied ahead, but…

He shook his head, his curls bouncing with the movement, and pressed forward. It was barely dawn, the sunlight just beginning to look down through the darkened canopy. To stay and dilly-dally would only give those back at the palace more time to realize he was missing.

And it would only give him more time to think about turning back.

But… turn back to what?

(It also gave him more time to feel guilty about leaving Logan behind, but Patton would rather spend hours thinking about the route he could take back to the palace before he spent a minute thinking about his magical advisor, his best friend, sleeping within the palace walls, unknowing to Patton’s empty bed in the next room over.)

Patton swallowed thickly and forced his feet forward, one step after another, one breaking twig after another.

Besides, at least if he kept walking, he didn’t have to think about how tired he was. He just… he just had to keep thinking about the journey he was on! Just like in the stories he had read before! All those stories about dashing princes, riding in on noble steeds, sword at their hip! They… they had to mean something!

Right?

Well, Patton had no armor, no sword, and no horse, but he liked to believe that he could make do with his blue cloak, unused dagger, and the most comfortable shoes he owned.

Another branch snapped underneath his foot. A bird cawed overhead, and Patton looked up to find a crow perched on a branch not too far ahead. He tried to ignore the chill running down his spine as the crow cawed again, shooting its song up into the canopy, before turning its dark gaze onto him.

“H-Hello, birdie,” Patton stammered quietly, forcing a smile on his face. If he tried hard enough, he could convince himself that he was just being polite, and that the nerves in his chest weren’t bubbling into rambling. “What’cha- what’cha doing out here so early?”

The crow tilted his head left, right, and when Patton crunched another branch under his foot, flew away.

“Okay,” Patton said, mostly to himself, and ducked his head, watching his feet as he walked.

He wondered if the Twisted Wood was so unsettling because of the history stooped in it, or if it was just because it was called the “Twisted Wood.” A simple title change could do the forest a lot of good.

Patton would know.

He was, after all, Prince Patton, son of Titus Hartt, the Iron King. Titus the Great, or Titus the Valiant, or even Titus, Patton’s dad, would have had a different ring.

So the Twisted Wood could have instead been the Winding Woodlands, or the Vast Meadows, or the Guiding Grove, or just… The Forest. _A_ forest. Doesn’t even have to have a title!

Patton sighed and, looking up, readjusted his glasses.

He just hoped he was going the right way, though he had a feeling that a wall of thorns standing a mile high would be _pretty hard_ to miss. 

Maybe that meant that they could see him from miles away, too. Whatever “they” were.

Okay, Patton _knew_ what they were, but- but what if there was nothing there? What if it was all just a scary story told to princes to stop them from going and looking for themselves? No undead, no beasts, no monsters, just- just a vacant clearing! And then Patton could laugh and turn around and skip right back through the forest that was no longer scary! And maybe he could even sneak back into the palace without being seen, and then he could tell Logan this story that they would laugh at for the rest of the day!

Except-

Patton slowed his step and looked up through the leaves, the dull sunlight glinting off his glasses.

Except he didn’t know if he would be laughing.

He didn’t know what he was looking for. Not really. He just…

Something had to be better than nothing, right?

He was given enough time— _just enough time_ —to debate that when, in the distance, the tall, thick trees began to blend in with the background, forming a wall of twigs and green- and Patton’s stomach dropped out of him when he realized that, after over two hours of walking, he had reached the heart of the forest.

Just like the legends always said, the Wall of Vine and Thorn stretched farther out than Patton could see. The Anguine Kingdom was rumored to remain inside, and the only reason it was rumor instead of fact was because no one actually _knew_ what was left inside. Not since the barricade went up one hundred years ago.

(Patton had checked the date before he left, and today was actually the first day of the hundredth and _first_ year.)

As Patton pushed himself forward, he could see more and more of the true… _greatness_ of the Wall. It stretched upwards as if, one day, the vines could eventually reach out and touch the sky, but what he found himself even _more_ amazed by were the trees that surrounded it. Almost like they had adjusted themselves to fit their new scenery, the trees closer and closer to the wall had grown, too: their trunks wider than Patton could reach around, their leaves blocking out the sun and, most curious of all, the trees _bent_ towards the Wall. The branches and leaves all leaned over, and Patton could only imagine that they met in the middle.

He had heard legend that the Anguine Kingdom was thrown into eternal darkness the moment the barrier went up, but to see it in person…

He was close enough now that, if he just reached out, he could touch the vines thicker than his torso, or the thorns as long as his forearm.

Keeping his hands close to his chest, he took a step forward.

“H-Hello?” he called out, hoping his voice reached whatever was past the vines. “I- I don’t know if you can hear me? Or… or if there’s anyone _there_ to hear me? But… I’m from the Hartt Kingdom. And I know what everyone… says about this place. About the princes. But I… I just want to know…”

He trailed off.

What _did_ he want to know? 

He had left the palace with an abstract desire and, if he was being honest, he had hoped that his subconscious would think of a question for him.

“It can’t be that bad, right?” Patton finally asked. “Whoever _you_ are can’t be that bad, right?”

The moment the words left his mouth, it felt like a stupid thing to ask, like a child’s question.

But he… he needed to know.

For a moment, everything was silent.

On the second moment, Patton shifted and winced when he snapped another twig beneath his foot.

And, just when he was ready to shake his head and turn around, chastising himself for really thinking that he could get an answer, the vines shifted.

The vines, chains so tightly braided together that the knights of the Hartt Kingdom could neither slash them open nor burn them down, began to twist, and shift, and press inwards, and press outwards, and weave and unweave and tangle and shiver and, ultimately, open.

The Wall of Vine and Thorn, impenetrable for a century, had opened up a hole six feet tall, and just wide enough for a person to step through.

Patton, without hesitation, stepped through.

He had been right: the trees met in the middle to block out the sun, and the slivers that burst through never made it to the ground.

If he squinted, though, he could still manage to see enough.

And what he saw was… the Anguine Kingdom. In the early morning air, it was still. Ivy crawled up the buildings, choking them out through the windows and the chimneys. The forest floor had long overcome whatever stone or wood once laid, dulled by footsteps from a time long ago. Craning his head up at a bird’s song, Patton watched as a dark shadow swooped among the leaves, startling them only for a moment before they resumed their hold above the remains. And, as Patton’s gaze shifted downward, he could make out the dark spire of a castle— _the_ castle—looming in the distance. Patton watched it for a moment, and a moment longer, and made out no flashes, no shadows, no figures moving past the peaked windows.

It was hard to imagine the kingdom harboring monsters for over a century when it was this… peaceful.

He let his feet carry him forward, trudging carefully through the overgrown weeds and bramble. It was only when he heard a shifting, a slithering, behind him that he looked back and, to his sudden horror, found that the opening in the vines was beginning to close.

“Wait!” he shouted out without thinking and, his feet nearly catching on the brush below, sprinted. It was, at most, with his short legs, twenty paces, but when he reached the Wall, the vines had already sewn themselves back together and, skidding to a poor halt and tripping, Patton hissed as his left palm sliced open on one of the thorns and his knees crashed to the ground.

Instinctively, he whimpered in pain before squeezing his eyes shut, willing back any sudden tears at the sharp pain that sprung throughout his hand. Pulling his hand away from where it pressed into the ground, he grimaced at the gash running from the base of his middle finger to the heel of his palm, and did his best to ignore the streak of blood dripping down his wrist.

“Well...” His voice, quiet, only petered out more as he looked back up at the barrier. “Oh no.”

Patton, for a moment, tried to decide which would be worse: the monsters were real and he was stuck with _them,_ or the legends were fake and Patton was stuck _alone_ in the graveyard kingdom.

At the sound of running footsteps behind him, his anxiety decided for him that being trapped with something was much worse than being trapped with nothing.

And, as Patton whipped around and scurried backwards, daring the thorns to piece his back, for the first time that morning, he regretted leaving the castle.

 _“Remus,_ what is all this-”

And Patton watched as, around the corner of the nearest building, a figure cloaked in black came bounding towards him.

It took a moment for Patton to place him. In legends, in paintings, in story books, he was always signified by his eyes: one untouched, one ruined. Some depicted it as gashed, others depicted it as glassy. Some chose not to depict it at all, instead leaving him with a gaping, black hole. That one was the one that scared Patton the most as a child.

Instead, though, the eldest brother, staring down at Patton on the ground before him with his one brown eye, had a black patch over the other.

And Patton, with his blue eyes, stared back up.

The eldest brother held his gaze for a moment in pure astonishment. Perhaps he, too, was not able to process exactly what he was seeing in front of him.

And then, all Patton had time to process was the anger twisting on his face before he was being yanked up by his collar by gloved yellow hands, his face now mere inches from the eldest brother’s.

 _“What-”_ His voice, gripping with malice, ripped through Patton and sent his body into a tremble _“-are you doing here?”_

“I- I-”

All he could focus on were the fangs where canines should have been.

That, and how close they were to Patton.

“How did you get in here?” The brother hissed, his grip tightening. “Answer me!”

“I- I don’t know!” Patton cried out. He couldn’t tell if it was tears or sweat streaking down his face (or both).

“What do you _mean-”_ And the brother yanked him closer “-You. Don’t. _Know?”_

“They let me in! They let me in!” Patton rushed out, gripping the brother’s wrists with his hands as if he even had a fraction of the power he needed to deter him. “The vines! They- they opened!”

“They-?” The brother’s face was only twisted in confusion for a moment before he stilled. His one eye, which up until then had never left Patton’s, darted to his right hand, which Patton was clutching desperately with his left.

Together, they watched as blood seeped through the brother’s yellow glove.

A scream barely caught in Patton’s throat as the pupil of the brother’s eye became a slit, his fangs bared, and-

And he threw Patton back to the ground.

“You shouldn’t be here!” The brother growled, ripping off his stained glove.

“I can’t- I just-”

“You just _what?”_ The brother shouted. It could’ve just been Patton’s nerves, but he swore the canopy above them shook.

To say that he just wanted to know felt… wrong.

“I can’t get back out,” he whispered.

The brother turned his steely gaze from Patton to the vines.

“You can’t,” he repeated, “get back out.”

Patton shook his head but, for the first time, the eldest brother’s attention was elsewhere; as if he was in a trance, he stepped forward, past Patton, and put a hand to the barrier of foliage.

“Who are you?” the brother asked quietly. It was the calmest Patton had seen him yet.

“P-Patton.”

“Patton what?”

The answer caught in his throat as the legend flickered through his mind, and it was only when the brother’s eye flicked to him again that Patton was able to force out:

 _“Hartt._ Patton Hartt. Of the- of the Hartt Kingdom.”

The eldest brother, for just a moment, froze.

And then he began to laugh, and he kept laughing, and it chilled Patton to his core. It was bitter and pained and, ultimately, seething.

“Wonderful!” He managed between his manic laughter. _“Another_ one of you! After a _hundred years!_ Fantastic!”

“I’m not here to-”

“Well, might as well make yourself at home!” The brother reached down and, grabbing Patton’s uninjured hand with his still-gloved one, yanked him up. “Since it seems like a Hartt is here to- to-” He cut himself off with another bark of laughter.

“I don’t know what you’re-!”

“And of _course_ this is how it happens!” The brother’s grip tightened on his hand as he dragged him along and Patton, wincing, struggled against him. “Why should I have expected _anything_ different? How _foolish_ of me when-”

“You’re hurting me!” Patton cried out, yanking back against his grip, and the brother froze.

His grip on Patton’s hand loosened and then, eventually, dropped.

“I- I’m-” The brother sighed and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Apologies.” He then continued walking, this time without Patton tugged along. “My brothers… will want to know about this. You.”

Patton nodded, the fear and the curiosity making an uneasy coil in his gut, and, keeping his hands pressed close to his chest, followed slowly behind.

The stone steps to the castle swirled lazily up, drawing large circles around the overgrown courtyard. It made Patton nauseous to look down, but it made his knees tremble to look at the large, wooden door at the top, a tattered orange tapestry hanging above.

Overall, if Patton had to be honest, he wasn’t having a _great_ time.

When they reached the double doors, the eldest brother took one last look at Patton, his eye narrowed, before he huffed and pushed the door open.

“Welcome,” he said, “to the Anguine Castle.”

Patton, when he stepped through the threshold, could not help but marvel at the site before him. The Hartt Castle, steeped in white marble and silver, seemed dull in comparison, even if the room in front of him was still drenched in darkness. Rich, red curtains hung closed before the windows. Dark wooden flooring stretched out, only stopping when met with the black, bricked walls. Accents of gold bespeckled themselves throughout the parlor, found in the decorations seated on the end-tables, in the frames holding aged portraits, in the bases of the unlit oil lamps on the wall. The room had a chill and Patton wished he brought something heavier than his cloak but, even for just this moment, he could not be bothered.

“Wow,” he breathed, looking around. Now choosing to marvel at the grand staircase leading up (and up and up and up) to the second floor, he watched as the eldest brother walked briskly to the foot of it.

“Roman! Virgil!” He called, his voice carrying through the chamber. “Get down here! _Now!”_

With a quick turn, he began flipping the switches of the oil lamps, each one turning on with a burst of flame before settling into a flickering calm. As they did, however, Patton noticed the light catching something on the brother’s hand and, as his eyes finally focused, he couldn’t help but stare at the scales encroaching upon the top of his hand and fingers, curling inwards to his palm.

Patton averted his gaze when the brother turned back to him, but from the way his brown eye was fixed on him, he blushed at the realization that he had been caught.

Before he could stammer out something that would either embarrass him further or send him to an early grave, a figure began to descend down the shadowed staircase.

“Janus, what the _fuck_ is-”

Having stopped, frozen at the foot of the staircase, Patton was able to get a good look at their new guest (well, technically, _he_ was the guest). He wore a simple black outfit similar to the eldest brother’s— _Janus’s_ —except without the yellow accents. He stared at Patton—who couldn’t help but take note of his gaunt features and dark circles pressed under his eyes—and flicked his dark brown hair out of his eyes, as if that would make the scene in front of him any different. 

“Is Remus home?” Janus asked.

“Janus, what the _fuck-”_ His voice then broke off as his eyes flicked to Patton’s hand and widened, and that was when Patton became aware of the drying blood down his left hand and forearm “-What the fuck did you _do_ to him?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Janus snapped. “So Virgil, answer my question, _is Remus home?”_

Virgil, lost for words, shook his head.

“Good,” Janus said. “I need you to take care of him, then.”

“How did- Who- What the fuck-?”

“Yes, I _know,”_ Janus bit. “Apparently the wall opened up for him!” He then looked back at Patton, who sheepishly smiled, before back to Virgil. “His name is Patton Hartt.”

Patton tried to ignore how harshly he said that last part.

Virgil’s jaw, dropping just enough to reveal his own fangs, stared at his brother before shooting to Patton. He faltered a couple times before finally managing out, “Hartt?”

“Yes, Hartt,” Janus repeated. “Now, take care of him, while I-”

“I- wait, why do I-”

“Because I have things to do!” Janus shouted, throwing his hands up. “I need to- _where_ is Roman?”

“You think _I’m_ gonna be the one to get him up?”

Janus growled low in his throat and pushed his way past Virgil. “The fucking-” He whipped his head back over his shoulder to stare down Virgil “-Virgil, take care of him. Be smart.”

Patton watched as Janus ascended the stairs before turning his gaze to Virgil, who still stared at him, dumbstruck.

He was suddenly aware that _“take care of him”_ could have a wildly different meaning here.

“I- I-” Virgil stammered “I have so many questions.”

“Me too,” Patton whispered.

“I-” Virgil eyed his injured hand again and swallowed thickly, turning his head sharply away. After a moment, he sucked in a breath and released it before turning back and, finally, stepping off the landing.

As he approached, Patton couldn’t help but stumble backwards, and Virgil held up his hands, slowing his step.

“I- I’m not going to hurt you,” he assured. It was the softest voice Patton had heard that day. “Just…” He looked over his shoulder before back at Patton. “Did he hurt you?”

Patton shook his head. “Not- no.”

Virgil arched an eyebrow.

“He was really scary,” Patton admitted. “But I- I tripped.” He showed Virgil his hand again, but when Virgil quickly shifted his gaze, he pulled it back against his chest.

Virgil sighed, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, Janus isn’t really one for good first impressions.” Then, after a hesitation, he eyed Patton’s hand again. “But he wasn’t being… threatening when he said to take care of you. You have to get that wrapped up or- or something.”

“And you’re going to help me?” Patton asked.

Virgil shrugged. “Apparently.”

“That’s very kind of you.” Patton offered him a faint smile. Virgil averted his gaze again. “Are you bothered by…?”

“Not as much as some will be,” Virgil said with a chuckle, though there was little humor in it.

Patton, gut twisting, chewed his bottom lip.

Virgil caught his worried look and sighed. “Look- sorry, we just-” He broke off again and shook his head. “Just… follow me.”

He waved Patton down the hall to his right and, a few paces behind, he followed as Virgil switched on oil lamps as they passed by. They illuminated more portraits, those of men and women and families throughout the years, though all dressed in fashion that Patton hadn’t seen before. At least, not outside of the old portraits in his own palace.

The question on the tip of his tongue was soon answered for, as they entered into a dining hall, his eyes immediately fell upon the large portrait on the opposite wall.

Having only seen the King and his four sons drawn in storybooks, to see them human… it was unsettling. The King, his name lost with his perishing, sat upon his throne, orange cushions supported by what could have only been gold. Wearing a hard look on his face, Patton couldn’t help but let a chill run down his spine. Janus, his dark brown hair styled neatly and both eyes staring out at Patton, shadowed him. His hands, folded and unscaled, rested on the back of the throne, and, starkly different from the man he just met, his lips curled up in a smirk, paired with an arched eyebrow. To his right was Virgil, the same dark brown hair styled messily but, even from where Patton stood, he could see that his brown eyes had life in them. _He_ looked more alive, his cheeks fuller and his skin blushed with pink, all put together with a small smile. 

Then, on the opposite side, stood two red-heads. The second son and his duplicate, Patton could assume, though it felt insensitive to say it now. The one standing closest to Janus wore a beaming grin, his head tilted every so slightly. His hair was styled so closely to perfection, Patton wondered if it was artistic intent or reality. The twin to his left, identical to the twin to _his_ right in all but the mustache, stared out and grinned, though something about it seemed much more… frantic. His red hair would have been perfect as well if not for a stray curl here or a fly-away there (again, Patton found himself wondering if it was reality or intent).

“So you’re the youngest brother,” Patton commented without even thinking.

Only after a long hesitation did Virgil say, “Yes?”

Patton blushed as Virgil motioned for him to take a seat at the dining table.

(Patton noted that it looked like it hadn’t been used in quite some time.)

“Sorry, sorry,” Patton said quickly. “It’s just-” He huffed and looked away as Virgil began rummaging through the drawers and cabinets. “We’re… taught… legends.”

Virgil let out another humorless laugh. “Can’t even bother to learn our names, huh?”

Patton decided to shift in his seat instead of saying anything more.

After a couple silent, tense minutes passed, Virgil finally pulled a roll of cloth out of the back of a drawer and dropped it in front of Patton on the table. “Sorry it took so long. We don’t get many… injuries.”

“It’s fine,” Patton whispered.

He watched as Virgil took a pot from another cabinet and filled it with water from the faucet. He must have shown some type of confusion on his face for Virgil explained, “We, uh- there’s a spring we managed to trap in here with us. The castle’s been connected to it for, well… centuries.”

Patton nodded. “Oh.”

Virgil sat a couple chairs away from him as Patton, carefully, started to clean the cut on his hand.

After a couple more minutes of silence, Virgil sighed and said, “Look, I’m sorry about the name comment.”

Patton, looking up, furrowed his eyebrows. _“You’re_ sorry?” he asked. “I’m sorry! It was- it was _rude_ of me to say that, and-” He faltered as Virgil raised an eyebrow. He sighed and shook his head. “I know what the legends say. We could’ve… we could’ve at least kept your names.”

Virgil stared at him for a moment, and Patton realized that there was no way of telling the difference between his pupils and the color of his eyes.

Finally, Virgil broke his stare and turned to look at the portrait. “Who are we?” he asked. “In your legend.”

Patton swallowed thickly and, with his uninjured hand, pointed first at the King. “The King.” Then to Janus, “His eldest son.” He hesitated when pointing to the twins, but finally stopped on the beaming one, “His second son.” He hesitated even longer when pointing to the other twin, “The… the duplicate.” Then, finally, he moved to Virgil. “His youngest son.”

Virgil nodded, staring at the portrait. Finally, he pointed as well. “Livius. Dead. Janus. You met him. Roman. Here, but I’m not gonna be the one that wakes him. Remus. Don’t let him hear you call him that. Me. In the flesh.”

“How old were you all?” Patton asked quietly.

“Does it matter?” Even as Patton focused on cleaning off his cut, he could feel Virgil staring.

“Perhaps not,” he murmured.

Another moment of silence.

 _“Shit,_ I’m not good at this,” Virgil huffed, and Patton lifted his eyes just in time to see Virgil drag his hand through his hair. “We were, uh- Janus was twenty-seven. Roman and Remus were… twenty-three. And I was twenty-two.” He shifted in his seat. “The kingdom fell a year later.”

Patton nodded. He didn’t know what to say to that. Anything he could think of felt… useless.

It was history. He couldn’t change that.

“And the vines really… let you in?” Virgil asked when Patton finally tied off his cut with one of the remaining bandages. Patton couldn’t even tell if he was scared anymore, but he still figured it wouldn’t be… wise to leave it just out in the open.

Patton looked up when Virgil said that, and Virgil, quickly, averted his gaze once more.

“They did,” he answered with a soft laugh and a sheepish smile. “I just… I spoke to them? And a little… doorway opened up.”

Virgil turned back to him, his eyebrows furrowed. “You spoke to them?”

Patton blushed. “Y-Yes, it was silly, I guess, but-”

“What did you say?” Virgil pressed, leaning forward on his elbows. Even from a couple seats away, Patton could feel his intensity.

With those dark eyes on him, it was as if Virgil was seeing through him.

“That it can’t be that bad,” he finally answered, his voice barely a whisper. “That… _you_ all can’t be that bad.”

Virgil held his stare for a moment longer, and Patton felt like he was drowning in it.

And then, Virgil, with a dry laugh and a shake of his head, leaned back. “Well… shit. You really must be a good person, huh?”

Before Patton could even _begin_ to question him, from down the hall and back in the parlor room, both their heads turned to the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.

“I had _just_ gotten into a much needed rest,” a voice was narrating—announcing?—as they came down the steps. “Something that a man of my caliber so _greatly_ needs-” And he was coming down the hall “-Only to be so _rudely_ interrupted by our _cruel_ older brother because-”

And then, in the doorway, stood Roman, the second son. Donning the same grin in the portrait before him, completing his look with the same neatly styled hair and white button down (not buttoned all the way, the collar rumpled) tucked into black pants, he eyed Patton before finally meeting his eyes.

“Apparently-” And Roman cocked his head “-there is another prince in our home!”

“Uh, yes- yes!” Patton stammered as Roman sauntered over, taking the seat in between him and Virgil. “Patton- Patton Hartt!”

He stuck out his hand and Roman, adding a raised eyebrow to his look, took it with a hand chilled to the touch.

“Prince Roman Anguine,” he said, his brown eyes passing over Patton’s face once more. “Charmed.”

From behind him, Virgil rolled his eyes. Leaning forward, he fixed where Roman’s collar curled up.

Roman, in a movement faster than Patton could comprehend, smacked Virgil’s hand away. “It’s _stylistic intent,_ Virgil,” he bit, the grin having slipped off his face. _“I_ would be the one to know it.” 

Still, though, he adjusted his collar.

Virgil’s glare hardened as he leaned back in his seat. “Is that what you’re calling it, Ro?”

Roman, ignoring him, turned back to Patton and put back on his grin. “Apologies for that,” he said, laughing. “Just some gentle ribbing among brothers.”

“Uh-huh,” Patton said quickly, nodding. He was partially unconvinced and partially intimidated.

“If you two are done-” Patton had to grip the arms of his chair to stop himself from jumping out of his skin as Janus appeared in the doorway “-Roman, where’s Remus?”

Roman, pulling a face, waved a hand flippantly. “How would I know?” he asked. “I’m not his keeper.”

Janus, shutting his eye for a moment, huffed before looking at Roman again. “And you have no clue where he might go?”

Roman scoffed. “You think he tells me anything?” he asked. “I’m lucky to know _when_ he’s going! Besides, why does it matter?”

Both Janus and Virgil pointed to Patton, who blushed as Roman’s eyes shot to him, his lips forming a small _o._

“Oh right,” he breathed out, nodding. “Right. Human.”

“Exactly,” Janus said, looking at Patton. 

Patton then realized that _all_ of them were looking at him.

“We don’t want…” Janus said slowly, as if he was choosing his words carefully, “To be caught off guard… when Remus returns.”

Next to him, Roman shifted in his seat.

“So,” Janus continued, “It would be _best_ to make sure that Patton is not… _left to his own devices_ when Remus-”

And, with that, all four startled at the sound of two heavy doors crashing into walls.

“Dear brothers!” A voice boomed through the castle. “Hope I’m not waking anyone! We all know how the dead can be!”

“Well,” Roman said, his eyes flicking to Patton and then Janus. “Found Remus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did y'all see where my roman stan jumped out
> 
> thank you for reading!!
> 
> kudos/comments/shares are greatly appreciated!!!!!
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	3. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “A prince makes his way into the realm of the monsters,” Janus mused, never breaking his line of sight, “And thinks he’ll find good.” He raised an eyebrow. “Really makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

Patton was in the middle of deciding whether or not he should be terrified when Janus, looking over his shoulder down the hall, said, “Remus, you know you shouldn’t be out after the sun rises.”

“Oh, of course, _your majesty!”_

Janus bristled. “Try to be polite.” He then turned his chilled look to Patton. “After all, we have a guest.”

 _“Janus!”_ Roman and Virgil hissed.

“What?” Janus asked, quirking an eyebrow. “You think we can hide him?”

Out of the corner of his eye, just barely, Patton watched Roman’s grip tighten around the arms of his chair. “Might be smarter than leading him straight to-”

“A _guest?”_ Remus asked and, from the corridor, the third brother entered the dining hall.

The portrait did not prepare Patton.

The first thing he saw staring down at him from the doorway were two eyes that, at one point, as the portrait once proved, were the same honey brown as his brothers’, but have now been overcome with a sickly, twisting green. When red hair fell into his eyes, granting Patton just a moment’s reprieve from being surveyed, the waves were brushed away with a clawed hand.

And when Remus’s look of confusion, of _curiosity,_ faded, it was replaced with a wide grin.

It would’ve been picture perfect if not for the two rows of jagged, sharp fangs.

“A guest?” Remus repeated, tilting his head. “Or breakfast?”

Patton decided that he was terrified.

“Don’t you fucking-” Roman growled and, beginning to move, was only stilled by Janus putting a hand out.

“Neither of you,” he said, his voice overcome with a calmness that barely masked the threat underneath it, “Will move another inch.”

Roman, unmoving, glowered. Remus, his grin falling into a smirk, shifted.

Janus swung a hang out as if ready to shove Remus back.

Remus, instead, stayed still. “It’s charming, really,” he laughed. “The lack of control you think I have!”

“Well it wouldn’t be the first-!” Roman began again.

“Roman! Enough!” Janus snapped before whipping his head back to Remus. “Remus-”

“Janus?”

Janus huffed and, after a quick glare, repeated, “Remus, this is-”

“Oh, I’d rather hear it from him.” Remus, baring his teeth down at Patton (or maybe he was grinning and Patton was just too distracted by the heartbeat in his ears and _holy-),_ flourished a clawed hand in his direction. “If one of you brought a… _guest_ here, then-”

“None of us brought him here,” Virgil cut in.

The grin slipped off Remus’s face as he slowly turned to Virgil. “Come again?”

Virgil shifted under his gaze and, instead, flicked his eyes to Janus. “I mean, Janus brought him _here_ but-”

“This is getting nowhere,” Janus interrupted, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Patton!” Patton finally piped up, his voice a bit too shaky and a bit too loud.

He blushed as all heads turned to him but, forcing his eyes to remain on Remus, he repeated, doing his best to compose himself, “My name is Patton. Patton Hartt.”

Remus’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. “Hartt?” he repeated, laughter bubbling in his chest. “As in- as in the people who came in and killed dear old Livius Anguine?”

“I- I-” Patton stammered.

Remus took a step closer, and Janus’s hand shot out to grab his wrist. Still, Patton couldn’t recede any further into his chair. “So, does that make you… a prince?”

Patton, having momentarily forgotten how to speak, swallowed thickly and nodded.

Remus, finally letting the laughter burst out of him, threw his free hand to his chest. “Oh, isn’t that wonderful! Now, we have no king for you to kill, is that alright? Things just _came up_ before the _last_ coronation, and you _know_ how these things are!” Janus glowered behind Remus and Remus, perhaps seeing Patton’s attention get pulled away, spun around to face his brother. “And you! You _brought_ him here! Tell me, your royal highness-”

Maybe it was just Patton’s eyes fooling him, but he swore Janus’s shoulders were shaking. “Don’t-!”

“Something you’re not telling us? Are we staging some sort of coup? A prince for a prince?” Before Janus could even answer, Remus swung back to look at Patton. “Tell me, Pat, you have siblings?”

Patton, wide eyed, shook his head.

“Great!” Remus exclaimed. “Then we take you and send back Roman!” His eyes now shot to Roman, and Patton felt like he was stuck in a whirlwind. “You can have your shot at being first! Isn’t that great?”

Roman’s shoulders hunched as if he was ready to throw himself at his twin and, just before Patton could consider getting out of the way, Virgil shot up from his seat, and the force sent it clamoring to the ground. 

“Remus! Stop!” 

Remus, moving his eyes from up from Roman to Virgil, raised an eyebrow.

“Janus didn’t even bring him here!” Virgil gestured wildly. “He just… the vines let him through.”

“The vines,” Remus repeated slowly, “Let him through.”

Virgil nodded fervently. “We’re not… _doing_ anything.” He then looked down at Patton and caught his eyes. “He just… showed up.”

For a split second, Remus looked lost for words.

And then the second passed, and he turned his jagged grin back to Janus. “Well, Janus,” he said, “Isn’t this fun?”

“Don’t,” Janus said quietly.

“I’m just saying!” Remus continued and finally yanked his hand free from his brother’s grasp. “Doesn’t that make you wonder?”

“No,” Janus answered coolly.

Remus hummed and tilted his head, observing. “One day I’ll believe you.”

“Make you- make you wonder what?” Patton asked, and was incredibly thankful that his voice didn’t shake.

This time, all eyes in the room were on Janus.

“Nothing.” Janus crossed his arms. “Nothing at all.”

Patton didn’t know if it was just his adrenalin beginning to numb out, but it felt like the room deflated.

“Well… now what?” Roman asked as Virgil righted his chair.

“Yes,” Janus said, staring Patton down. “Now what?”

Patton worried his bottom lip but forced himself to not break Janus’s gaze.

He couldn’t name what it was, but something was telling him that he couldn’t just walk away from this. Not even like he was being threatened (though it seemed like those cards weren’t exactly off the table), but like… something deep within him was keeping his feet planted where they were.

Like… like his subconscious was telling him that whatever he was looking for was in these cold castle walls.

“I wouldn’t be in the way,” Patton whispered.

Janus’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

Patton cleared his throat and spoke up, “I- I know you’re probably not gonna let me just… walk out of here.” He waited long enough for a confirmation and, instead, was given four pairs of eyes staring at him. He swallowed, nodded, and continued. “But I- if you’ll… have me, I can stay here.”

Virgil huffed, shaking his head. “We can’t- you can’t _seriously_ be thinking about staying, right? We- we don’t even have food!” 

Remus signed. “If _only_ there was someone who knew the forest and where to _find_ things,” he said, pouting. Then, after a beat of silence, he grinned. “Oh, wait! _I_ do!”

“And we’re supposed to trust-” Virgil started, a growl low in his throat, and Janus, putting a hand up, silenced him.

“You do remember that you are a prince, yes?” Janus asked. “I find it _very_ hard to believe that the Hartt kingdom just let their _only prince_ walk into the woods.”

“No, they wouldn’t,” Patton said, nodding. “But- but they don’t even know I left.”

Janus scoffed. “And when they do find out?”

Patton hesitated before shrugging. He didn’t even think he would get this far. “They’ve never been able to get in here before. Maybe they won’t even think to try again.”

“Oh, yes,” Remus laughed, “I’m sure the evil kingdom in the woods isn’t suspicious at all.”

Janus, as if he didn’t even hear his brother, studied Patton closely.

“Patton Hartt,” he finally said, cocking his head, “What aren’t you telling us?”

Patton laughed half-heartedly. “Do I have to be hiding something?”

“I find that most people are.”

Patton swallowed thickly. “Oh,” he whispered. “Right, well, uh…” He darted a quick look to Virgil before back to Janus. “I just… we have our legends. In the Hartt Kingdom.” He forced himself to not pick at his cuticles, to not adjust his clothes, to just keep looking forward. “I… I don’t think that you four are that bad. You _can’t_ be that bad.”

Janus smirked. “Oh, can’t we?”

“Well, maybe-” And he weakly laughed again, shrugging “-But none of you have killed me yet. I’ve lasted longer than all legends say I would have.”

With that, the room fell silent and, together, the three younger brothers turned to their eldest.

And Janus, in turn, kept his eye on Patton. He kept his eye on Patton for a long time and, in what felt like a miracle, Patton did not falter.

“A prince makes his way into the realm of the monsters,” Janus mused, never breaking his line of sight, “And thinks he’ll find good.” He raised an eyebrow. “Really makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

“I- I-” Patton tried weakly before, unable to find his words, giving up. 

“Very well,” Janus continued, surveying the room. “It seems we have to prepare the castle for a guest.”

“Are you _sure_ about this?” Virgil asked. 

Patton would’ve thought he was asking Janus until he realized that Virgil’s dark eyes were trained on him. “Oh, uh…” He swallowed and nodded. “I am.”

Roman turned to him as well. “If you think he-” And he pointed to Janus “-is going to do something to you if you try to leave, he’s not. I wouldn’t let him.” Virgil, loudly cleared his throat and Roman huffed. _“We_ wouldn’t let him.”

“I- I’m being serious,” Patton assured, looking between all four of them. “I mean, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little… scared, but…” He sighed and shook his head. “I mean it when I say that you guys haven’t done anything to me! Janus could’ve killed me outside. _Any_ of you could’ve killed me in here-”

“You can just say me,” Remus interrupted, shrugging. “I won’t take it to heart.”

“-But none of you did!” Patton continued, trying very hard to ignore that.

Roman eyed Remus warily. “I mean-”

Virgil coughed loudly and kicked Roman’s chair.

“Well, if you all are done,” Janus finally said, eyeing his three brothers. “I have things to attend to. I expect you will all… behave?”

“Just as our guest said,” Remus said with a smirk, “We haven’t done anything yet!”

Janus rolled his eye. “Well he also seems to have low standards for good company.” And, with that, he turned his gaze to Patton. “And I expect the same from you.”

Patton nodded quickly. “Of- Of course.”

“And I suggest listening well when I say this,” Janus continued. “If you show any sign of betraying this… _trust_ we’re showing you, I have no qualms against making the first move.”

“Janus, _really?”_ Virgil asked.

“Yes, really,” Janus pushed. “I think we have just as much of a right to be distrustful as he does.”

“I- I won’t do anything to hurt you,” Patton promised, quietly.

Janus nodded. “Then we won’t have any issues, should we?”

And, with that, Janus turned on his heel and stalked down the hall.

“Wow!” Remus mocked while they listened to his shoes tap up the stairs. “Why doesn’t Janus welcome guests more often?”

“I can name a few reasons,” Roman muttered under his breath.

“It seems like he just wants you guys to be safe,” Patton said.

Roman, humorlessly, laughed. “I think he wants to keep his _castle_ safe.”

“Roman,” Virgil warned.

Roman waved his hand dismissively. “I know, I know. Have to show our good side.” He flashed a wink at Patton. “Luckily, I have many.”

Virgil and Remus rolled their eyes.

“Well, I think I’m done with this conversation,” Virgil said. Standing up, he looked down at Patton. “Should I show you where you’ll be… staying?”

“Is it a coffin?” Patton asked quietly. “I- I heard that there’s coffins involved.”

Roman snorted and covered it with a cough while Virgil, stifling a smile himself, raised an eyebrow.

“Only if you piss Janus off!” Remus said with a grin.

“Ignoring that,” Virgil said, “They tell you we sleep in coffins?”

Patton blushed and couldn’t help but let a laugh escape. “I mean because- oh, this feels mean!”

“We know that we’re the undead, Patton,” Virgil said. “You’re not gonna surprise us.”

“But no, we do _not_ sleep in coffins,” Roman said. “I wouldn’t be caught dead in a- well, I mean, I _would.”_

“And you are,” Remus added. “Dead, that is.”

Virgil, running his hands over his face, huffed. “You two are idiots,” he mumbled before looking back at Patton. “You should probably, I don’t know, get a tour?” He eyed his two brothers, assessing quickly. “I’ll do it.”

“Suit yourself,” Roman and Remus said before both shifting and eyeing each other.

“Great,” Virgil, monotone, said. Then, gesturing at the hall, “After you?”

“Oh, oh! Yes, thank you,” Patton said, flashing Virgil a smile and standing up. As he was leaving, he looked back over his shoulder at Roman and Remus. “It- it was nice meeting you two!”

Roman beamed. “It’s so lovely to see a person with manners around here!”

“Maybe you can finally learn some,” Virgil said, following Patton out.

As they reached the parlor room, Patton turned to Virgil. “They seem nice!”

Virgil scoffed. “You don’t have to flatter them that much,” he said, leaning against the bannister. He then pointed down the hallway they just came from. “Obviously, that’s the dining hall. Unused but… guess that’s changing?” He then gestured down a hallway behind him that ran parallel to the staircase. “All the way at the end is the throne room. Also unused.”

Patton nodded. Looking down the hall, through the darkness, he could just make out two large, heavy doors.

“And then,” Virgil continued, “Though I doubt you can see it from here, so fucking dark, but right before the throne room, there’s another hall that leads to the sitting room. Decently used.” He then pointed up. “There are four other floors.”

“Well,” Patton said, smiling, “We should get started!”

“I-” Virgil stammered, “I guess we should.”

As they travelled upwards, their shoes clicking against the stone, Patton couldn’t help but marvel. The black stonework stretched up to the high ceilings, still met by dark wood flooring, but, as Virgil switched on lamps as they went, the inherent chill of the darkness was sucked out by the warmth the orange glow gave. Even when paired with the windows, closed off by the curtains drawn over them, the castle felt… open. 

And, once again, Patton was purely amazed at where he had found himself.

“Alright, so,” Virgil said, snapping Patton out of whatever trance he fell into. He pointed to a set of double doors down at the far end of the hall to their right. “Our father’s room. No one… goes in there.” Patton slowly nodded, worrying his bottom lip, and Virgil pointed down the hall to their left. “Down there is Janus’s room and study. Basically no one is allowed in there. At least not without his say-so.”

“Why?” Patton asked, peering down the hall. He caught sight of two more shut doors..

“He’s always been like that,” Virgil murmured, staring down the hall, too. “He doesn’t like people… messing with his stuff, I guess.”

“Oh,” Patton said, quietly.

“Anyways, though,” Virgil said, and began to make his way up the second flight of stairs, “Just don’t mess with his shit and you’ll be fine.”

Patton followed him. “O-Okay!”

The third floor had a similar layout to the second, this time housing Virgil’s, Roman’s, and Remus’s rooms, and a study for each.

“Though honestly,” Virgil said, “The studies aren’t used very much.”

“And are your rooms also off limits?” Patton asked.

Virgil shrugged. “Roman would probably let you poke around,” he explained. “Remus _definitely_ doesn’t like people touching his stuff. And I… I mean, if you _knock-”_

“Don’t worry,” Patton said, smiling. “I have good manners.”

Virgil huffed out a laugh. “Apparently so.”

The fourth floor housed the guest rooms. In comparison to the rest of the castle, which seemed to be stocked with darker woods and deep colors to match the castle itself, the guest rooms held more neutral tones.

“Our aesthetic could be foreboding even before… everything,” Virgil explained.

“I like it,” Patton said. “It’s different!”

It was the final floor, though, that actually had Patton lost for words.

To call it a library would have been… an understatement.

It was perhaps the smallest part of the castle, leaving Patton to assume that they were up in the spire, but the sheer openness of the single room did enough. Tall bookshelves filled to the brim lined the walls, and in the gaps were portraits: the royal family, the brothers when they were younger, landscapes of what must have been the surrounding area at one point. Well-worn chairs, both cushion and wooden, were pushed into desks and end-tables (all of which were stacked with papers and books, game pieces and cards). And, as Virgil flicked on the oil lamps, what caught Patton’s eyes most were the large, arched sunroofs adorning the spire. They were blocked with tree branches now, but he could just imagine the light they once let in.

“Wow,” Patton breathed.

“Yeah,” Virgil said, looking up as well. “It, uh… it used to be really pretty.”

“I think this whole room is pretty!” Patton looked back down at the library around him. “It’s… we have a library back at my castle. It’s not this lived in.”

Virgil shrugged, though Patton still saw the hint of a smile on his lips. “Well, we need stuff to pass the time around here.” He blew his hair out of his eyes. “You can come up here whenever.”

Patton grinned, looking one last time at the room around him.

When Virgil led him back down to the guest wing, he pushed open the door farthest down the hall. “Rumor has it,” he said, “This was the best room.”

The room was simple yet comfortable, the dark walls and flooring brightened with white and cream furniture. A canopy bed was pushed against the wall, the curtains drawn around it, with end tables on either side. A writing desk was situated against a window (still curtained, but this time with white instead of the typical dark reds Patton had seen before). Virgil motioned to the armoire and the closets. “We actually do have extra clothes. Roman’s pretty good at keeping that kind of stuff maintained.”

“It’s a nice room,” Patton said. 

“Yeah, we tried to, uh, liven it up,” Virgil said. “As ironic as that now sounds.”

Patton just managed to hold back a laugh.

“Well-” And Virgil turned on his heel “-I’ll… leave you to get comfortable.” 

“Thanks, Virgil,” Patton said, already examining the little knick-knacks left on the desk.

It was when Patton never heard Virgil leave, though, that he looked over his shoulder.

“Virgil?” Patton questioned as Virgil, back to him, kept his hand on the doorknob without ever turning it.

“You know you don’t have to do this, right?” 

Patton furrowed his eyebrows as Virgil turned to face him again. “Do what?”

“This.” Virgil gestured around the guest room. “Stay here. I- I can get you out.”

“I don’t- But the vines?”

Virgil sighed. “It’s complicated,” he said. “Honestly? Don’t know what I can and cannot tell you! But- you said the vines let you in? I can get them to let you out.”

Patton hesitated for a moment, quickly eyeing Virgil’s… worried expression, before shaking his head. “I- I don’t want you to.”

Virgil, laughing dryly, said, “Listen, I don’t know you, you don’t know me, but you don’t have to lie to me. You can say that you’re scared shitless and I can get you out of here without anyone else even knowing!”

“I’m not- I’m not lying!” Patton defended.

Virgil watched him, watched him keep his feet planted on his side of the room, and shrugged. “I just- I can’t understand why you would come here, let alone why you would _stay_ here.”

“Because…” Patton trailed off, shrugging. “I need to know…”

Virgil let his head lean back and knock against the door. “Yeah, I know,” he said. “But… what if we _are_ just as bad as everything you’ve heard?”

“And what if you aren’t?”

“But-” Virgil shook his head again “-You can’t uproot your entire life based on a- a hope? A fantasy?”

“It’s not a-!” Patton cut himself off and instead chose to cross his arms. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Maybe not!” Virgil threw up his hands. “But I don’t know if you do, either. You’re in the kingdom of _monsters_ right now. We’re- whatever princes we once were, they died a hundred years ago! All that’s left is whatever _things_ we’ve become!”

“Well, if you’re so sure that I can’t trust you-” And even Patton himself wasn’t quite sure what he was doing when he opened his arms “-Prove it.”

Virgil faltered. “What?”

“If you’re going to hurt me,” Patton said, “Now’s your chance.”

Virgil gaped at him, and did not move an inch.

Patton dropped his arms and shrugged. “There you have it.”

Virgil was silent. He was silent for a long time, actually; enough time to make Patton consider turning back to the room he was in.

But, finally, Virgil said, quietly, “This isn’t a fairytale you hear at your castle, Patton. Whatever you’re trying to find… there’s nothing good here.”

“And I don’t believe you,” Patton said. 

“I can’t tell if you’re too good of a person, or just too naive.”

“I know what the legends say about this place,” Patton said. “And, sure, I’m a bit spooked. I won’t lie about that. But… I just like to give people the benefit of the doubt.”

“Shit.” Virgil dragged a hand through his hair. “Why would a person like you even _leave_ your kingdom? You could- could talk your way out of any fucking war.”

This time, it was Patton’s turn to stay silent.

When Virgil took the hint that Patton wasn’t going to answer, he sighed and shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t be so… whatever this is. Paranoid or intense or whatever.” He shrugged. “Listen, I… I know what you said. And you’re right. We’ve all had chances to… do shit. And we didn’t. But we’re still what we are. I’m just… anxious that you really don’t know what you’re getting into.”

“Maybe not,” Patton said. “But… I want to know.”

Virgil stared at him in disbelief. “I’ll say one thing, you make for interesting company.”

Patton smiled. “I try my best.”

Virgil laughed slightly and, when he turned to actually leave this time, Patton spoke up again, “And, Virgil?”

Looking over his shoulder, Virgil raised an eyebrow.

“Thanks. For showing me around,” he said. “And for the concern.”

Virgil, seemingly caught off guard, cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly, his fangs just poking out. “Uh, no- no problem.”

And the door closed behind him softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is now a good time to say that i dont subscribe to the idea of purely "sympathetic" or "unsympathetic" sides
> 
> thank you for reading!!! feedback is always appreciated!!!
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	4. chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It felt illogical to be making a plan to head into the Twisted Wood, especially this close to nightfall, but… he found that friendship could surpass logical thinking.
> 
> At one point in his life, Logan could never understand that sentiment, but, before that, he had never had a friend like Patton Hartt.

It wasn’t that Logan wasn’t concerned about Patton and his whereabouts. Quite the contrary, actually.

“What I’m just not understanding is how you never noticed him leaving!”

He was just getting a bit tired of being blamed for it.

Looking ever so slightly up at King Titus Hartt seated upon his throne, he was met with the same cold, blue eyes set under a heavy brow that he had already faced three other times that day. Frankly, he could’ve found Patton himself if he wasn’t continuously summoned by the King to answer the same questions.

But, despite his… _ opinions, _ he was the Prince’s Mage Advisor, Apprentice to the Royal Mage Advisor—trusted with both Patton’s well-being and the eventual responsibility of being the next Royal Mage Advisor—so instead of voicing his grievances, he put on a thin smile.

“Your Majesty,” Logan said with the grace he had been educated in his whole life, “As I have said before, with how early I arose to attend to my studies, the Prince must have departed before sunrise.”

The King’s grip tightened around his silver scepter. “And you did not think to look for him when you woke this morning?”

Logan kept the small smile plastered on his face. “Having worked with Prince Patton since we were young,” he said (repeated, really, but who was keeping count?), “We have reached an arrangement where he understands that I use the early morning hours to hone in on my studies. We meet at breakfast, and then I attend to what he needs for the rest of the day.”

The King sighed and, squeezing his eyes shut tight, rubbed his brow with his free hand. “Yes, so I understand,” he murmured. When his eyes opened again, they were narrowed on Logan. “And, Logan, you have no idea  _ at all _ where he would have gone?”

Logan felt the chill behind his words. After all, he was friends with Patton long before he was appointed his advisor. It was a test of loyalties, really, to see whether he pledged himself to his current sovereign, or his future.

Fortunately for him, he truly did not know where Patton was.

(Which, of course, only worked to exacerbate his gnawing anxiety, but he swallowed his nerves thickly.)

“My King,” he said, bowing his head, “I swear to you, I do not know where your son is.” He looked up. “If I knew he was going anywhere, I would have gone with him... or even stopped him, if need be.”

The King held his stare for a moment longer before sighing again and looking away. “As I would have figured,” he said. “It is just… frustrating that Patton would leave the castle without notifying anyone. He has responsibilities to attend to. He should not be shirking them to- what? Roam the countryside?”

Logan wanted to note that perhaps they should be concerned for more than just Patton’s  _ responsibilities. _

Instead, he said, “You think he is still within the bounds of the kingdom?”

The King scoffed. “You think he would leave? Our kingdom is large, Logan. Our knights will find him in one of the neighboring villages eventually, and they’ll bring him back.”

“Well, perhaps,” Logan said. “But we are also on the border of the woods and-”

Logan jumped when the King hit the base of his scepter against the marble floor. “My son knows better than to venture into those woods! He’d be throwing his life away!”

“I know, your majesty,” Logan pressed, “But I think it might be logical to have some of the guards look for him there. Knowing what’s in that forest, he could be-”

“And knowing what’s in that forest,” the King interrupted, leaning forward on his throne, “More than anyone else in this kingdom, Patton should know the evils our family fought off! If he has any respect for our history, he will stay out of that forest!”

“But what if he’s in danger?” Logan asked, trying to maintain his composure as best he could.

“Patton would know better than to leave the bounds of the kingdom,” the King said. Logan couldn’t help but feel like he was avoiding the question. “Besides, we have lost too many civilians to whatever lurks in that forest already. You hear it all the time. A peasant ventures in and they’re never reported again! Dire wolves, I reckon. Though we have fended off those _ monsters  _ for a century now, their other monstrosities could still be out there, and-”

“How do we know?” Logan shot back.

The King startled at his interruption and Logan tried not to think too hard about how he just cut off  _ the King. _

“How do we know what?” The King slowly asked.

“That whatever lurks inside those walls remains inside.”

The King laughed to himself, perhaps thinking Logan’s question foolish. “Because we have maintained peace!”

Logan sighed. “Forgive me, your majesty,” he said, “But do you truly think that  _ that  _ means anything?”

The King raised an eyebrow. “You think, if those things were given an opportunity, they wouldn’t burn our kingdom to the ground? That they wouldn’t seek revenge for us eliminating their tyrannical reign?”

“We don’t know anything about them!” Logan pressed. “We don’t know where they are. We don’t know what they’re doing. We don’t know if they can get through that wall! All we know is that their barrier—which we  _ don’t _ know the nature of—is still standing! They…  _ whatever _ is left of the Anguine kingdom might not be planning a siege of the kingdom, but, if I may say so, I wouldn’t be so quick to disregard this century-long silence as peace.”

The King studied Logan closely. “Logan,” he said, “For someone who claims to know nothing about these creatures, you seem to be very opinionated.”

Logan shook his head. “I swear to you, I know nothing. I am only… concerned for your son. If the legends are right, that the Anguine King and his four sons were truly so corrupt, then a hundred years seems more than enough time to allow that to fester and grow into something worse, perhaps even a plan.”

The King was quiet for a moment, shifting his gaze downwards, before sighing and nodding. “I… appreciate your concern, Logan. My son is lucky to have an advisor who is so attentive. He... needs your guidance.”

Logan swallowed thickly. If he hadn’t already known the King’s expectations for his son, he would’ve taken it as a compliment. Instead…

“But,” the King continued, “I doubt my son would be so… courageous to face the wilds, nor would he be so careless to do so on his own. I’m sure this is him just trying to make a point after the… conversation we had last night. He’ll be back in a few hours and we can deal with all of this then.”

Logan frowned. Whatever conversation the King and Patton had had last night… this was the first time he was hearing about it.

Though, knowing Patton’s relationship with his father, his sudden curtness the night prior seemed much more understandable now.

( _ “Patton,” _ Logan had said when he saw Patton coming down the corridor of their bedrooms,  _ “I’ll have you know that-” _

_ “Make a report of it,”  _ Patton had said, brushing past. His head ducked, he had not even stopped to look back.  _ “I’ll see to it in the morning.” _

And then he shut the door to his room.)

Even just the  _ thought _ of that being the last time Logan saw Patton made his stomach curl.

Logan cleared his throat, nodding. “I see,” he said. “Well, I hope he returns soon.”

“As do I,” the King nodded. “You’re dismissed, Logan.”

Yet, when Logan was about to exit the throne room, the King called out to him, “Actually, Logan?”

Logan turned back. “Yes, your majesty?”

Even from across the room, Logan could feel the King’s hard gaze. “I’ll have you remember,” he said, “That the Twisted Wood is off limits, yes? I cannot stop every peasant and farmer that wishes to test legend, but I  _ can _ control those of the royal court. So I’m sure you can understand why I would hate to hear of someone in my court surveying the outskirts, yes?”

A warning, or a threat. Or both. Either way, it was thinly veiled.

Logan nodded. “Of course, your majesty.”

Within five minutes of being back in his room, Logan had his bag packed.

It would’ve been quicker, but even he had to admit that his anxiety about the situation at hand was causing his hands to shake just a bit too much.

He wanted to believe that the King was right. Despite his… dismissals at his son’s disappearance, seeming to be more aggravated than anything, Logan wanted to believe that maybe Patton _ was _ just taking a moment to clear his head in the countryside. That, as the sun rose higher, he found himself lost in the beauty of nature, and only when the sun set would he return.

But the sun was setting now, and Logan’s blood was turning cold at knowing that the King was rarely right about Patton.

He didn’t know what was said between father and son the night prior, but he knew enough to hazard a guess that it was not just a simple civil conversation.

Finishing off his pack by carefully slotting in his spellbook—passed down for a century, carefully maintained and added to with each new Royal Mage Advisor—Logan sighed and sealed his bag shut.

It felt illogical to be making a plan to head into the Twisted Wood, especially this close to nightfall, but… he found that friendship could surpass logical thinking.

At one point in his life, Logan could never understand that sentiment, but, before that, he had never had a friend like Patton Hartt.

He released one final deep breath before grabbing his staff. If he wanted to go, he needed to leave now. 

In the air in front of him, he drew a sigil with his free hand as he muttered an incantation. Silver sparks emitted from his finger and followed his path before, when the sigil completed with his incantation, burst into a fit of sparks. 

A cool rush passed over him as his body was shrouded in invisibility.

As Logan traversed the bright, marble halls of the castle, the setting sunlight filtering in through the windows and dashing against the floor, he was grateful for his composure. He knew the castle well,  _ had _ to know the castle well, and, as long as he kept his steps slow and his breathing quiet, he was able to slip past servants, guards, advisors, and even the King without falling under scrutiny.

It was only when the line of the forest was in sight that Logan started picking up his pace. There was a large clearing surrounding the forest, giving the kingdom a wide enough berth to see anything coming out of it. At one point, there had apparently been guards stationed all along the clearing but, as the years passed and neither monster nor beast ventured out, the guards were pulled back.

Personally, Logan believed that it was a poor decision made. Just because there was no sign of any creature lurking  _ outside _ its realm did not mean that there weren’t any lurking at all.

Plus, Logan had heard too many stories of those unfortunate enough to venture into the forest.

They had yet to come back out.

Logan swallowed thickly and forced his feet to carry him faster.

Perhaps this was a poor decision, too. Perhaps Logan would learn the same fate of all who stepped foot in the Wood. For, even with the undead supposedly bound by their walls, that did not eliminate the other beasts that lurked within.

But… but something in Logan’s gut nagged at him that Patton was not simply walking through the streets of a village.

Because Patton had done that before.

And Patton had told him when he was leaving.

But, this morning, when he woke up, Patton was already gone with no notice left.

And, no, Logan did not think that Patton was taken in the night. If Patton did truly venture into the woods, Logan feared that he did it on his own volition and, even though he trusted his prince, his _ friend,  _ he could not help but think that  _ that _ was more worrying than Patton being taken.

Logan, just as his invisibility was timing out, took one final step and crossed into the threshold of the Twisted Wood, and already the world seemed to fall into darkness. The oranges and pinks of the evening sky were choked off by the encroaching bramble. As Logan took careful steps further in, his shadow continued to join the darkness surrounding him until, finally, he looked over his shoulder at the entrance and found the light barely making its way in.

Despite every logical part of him saying that there was still an opportunity to back out, he felt like he was really in it now.

And so, he kept walking forward, his wooden staff clutched tightly in his hands. Even without the light, the dark blue orb nestled within the carving at the top glimmered with magic. Occasionally, a bolt of lightning would bounce against the glass as Logan, using it more as a walking stick than anything else, tapped the grass below him with the base.

Relatively, the forest was still, quiet. If not for the swooping of a bird among the treetops or the owls beginning their nightly chant, Logan could have believed that he was the only living creature for miles.

But still, he knew better than that, for there was more that lurked than just the living. 

Logan pulled his dark blue cloak tighter around him when a chill ran up his spine and told himself that it was the cool, evening air.

And when he heard a twig snap at a distance that he could not see, he told himself that his heightened nerves were exaggerating his reality. Really, it was quite common. With his senses running on overdrive and adrenaline coursing through his system, he would only be more cognizant to his surroundings. Thus, a bird flying off a branch would sound like a crash. A crow’s caw would sound like a shout.

Another pair of snapping twigs would sound like footfalls.

Logan tightened the grip on his staff and kept walking.

And another pair of snapping twigs would sound like footfalls _ following _ him.

Heightened nerves were a fickle thing.

A fickle thing, that is, until they began to roar in his ears, drowning out the quickening footsteps circling him.

And then, finally, Logan was not alone.

“I was wondering when I would find another  _ guest _ in these woods! It’s been getting so  _ lonely _ out here!”

The man in front of him—the _ monster _ in front of him—wore a smirk and, even with the distance between them, Logan could see how his green eyes studied him. His clothes, royal in nature, were haphazard and dishevelled, and Logan immediately recognized the green cloth tied around his waist as a sash that a prince would wear.

Even Logan couldn’t help but let his step falter.

He had heard the legends, everyone in the kingdom had.

He just never expected to come face-to-face with one of these creatures, even in their realm.

The monster, perhaps noticing his fear, grinned, and Logan’s vision tunnelled in on the rows of sharp teeth.

“I thought you villagers would have learned!” The monster laughed and took a step forward. Logan took a step back. “Or do you just think it’s- what? Bears? Wolves?”

Logan held his staff out in front of him, willing his hand to remain steady. “I am Logan Sanders, Mage Advisor to the Prince of the Hartt Kingdom. Take no step closer unless you wish to, once again, face the power of the Hartts.” 

The monster cackled, letting his head fall back with the motion. “Oh my! The Hartt Kingdom is just  _ churning  _ people out today!”

Logan’s posture, where it might have faltered under his fear, straightened. “Have you taken our prince?”

Then, at a speed Logan could not comprehend, the monster was mere inches from him. He wore a devilish grin, his wild eyes looking up to meet Logan’s.

“Well isn’t this a fun predicament?” the monster mused-  _ mocked, _ even.

“If you have taken our prince,” Logan growled, “I swear-”

“You swear what?” And the monster, rather exaggerated, pouted. “The good ole king will come down from his throne and try to tear down our wall again?”

“Where-” And Logan, seething, tightened his grip on his staff so much that his knuckles burned “-is Patton?”

The monster smirked, narrowing his eyes. “And what makes you think I’d tell you?”

Logan, the tension in his body snapping, whipped his staff around and, as he cracked it against the side of the monster’s head, he felt the reverberations of it travel through his arms. When the monster stumbled back, either in shock or because the hit actually dizzied his senses, Logan took the butt of his staff and jammed it into his chest, sending him to the ground.

“How about we try this again?” And Logan, keeping one foot firmly planted on the forest floor while the other one stepped on his chest, pointed his staff down at the monster. The crystal orb crackled with energy. “Where is he?”

The monster, eyeing the staff and then Logan, raised an eyebrow. “What are you going to do, _ kill _ me? You can’t fucking kill me.”

“I can think of much worse.” And, for emphasis, dark blue and black sparks flickered off the orb, barely missing the monster’s face. “Now,  _ where is he?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the way i was describing this chapter to my friends was using the "i want to see my little boy!" vine
> 
> thank you for reading!!! kudos/comments/shares are greatly appreciated!!!!! <3
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	5. chapter four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Remus?” Roman shouted, already running out of the sitting room. “What is-”
> 
> And then Roman skidded to a halt, his eyes widening on something that neither Patton nor Virgil could see. 
> 
> “What the fuck,” Roman said slowly, “Have you done?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the only way i can describe this chapter is me saying to myself "oh god this was not originally intended" every couple of paragraphs except in a Good, Fun Way
> 
> this is also the longest chapter so far which was definitely not expected omg
> 
> content: light violence, arguing, a little bit of crying

Patton first awoke with a stretch and a sleepy look at the light furniture and dark walls, and then with a feeling of immense panic at the realization that this was not this bedroom. 

Shooting up onto his hands, nearly toppling over from both the headrush and the anxiety coursing through his system, Patton was torn between scourging the room for his glasses and hurtling himself out the window before, in a moment of perfect clarity, he remembered that he was within the Anguine Castle.

Which, to a degree, calmed his nerves. For one, he wasn’t kidnapped! Nor was he killed in his sleep!

Not that he was…  _ terribly _ worried about that, but he allowed himself a bit of dazed fear as he continued tiredly smacking around for his glasses before finally realizing that his glasses were crooked on his face. He hadn’t even meant to fall asleep (made obvious by the fact that he fell asleep not only with his glasses on, but on top of the covers) but he guessed he should have expected his body to be keeling over with exhaustion after… everything that that morning had been.

Peering out the window by his bed, he startled at the darkness before remembering that the kingdom, no matter what, was always shrouded in darkness. Frowning, he looked around until he found the clock above his bed reading that it was just past seven in the evening.

Well, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel a little embarrassed at sleeping through the whole day. 

After collecting himself and freshening up, he poked his head out into the hall and, finding no one, quietly shut the door behind him. He typically prided himself on being a good, well-mannered guest, but he didn’t really know how this type of situation… functioned yet.

Heading down the stairs, he found the residential floors quiet, the doors to the brothers’ rooms closed. Behind Janus’s door, he heard shuffling and quiet pacing, and, after a moment’s hesitation, he continued on down the stairs.

And, just when he started to believe that he was the only one active in the castle, he heard Virgil’s voice coming from the dining-kitchen area, saying, “Is it supposed to look like that?”

Which was followed quickly by a defensive Roman saying, “Yes! This is just... artistic intent!”

“Really? Because it looks like you’re burning it.”

“Oh shut up!” Roman snapped as Patton finally made his way into the dining room. First, he took in Virgil sitting at the table, one leg crossed under him and his other knee pulled up to his chest. Roman, on the other hand, stood in front of the stove, stirring something in a pan that, from this distance, Patton couldn’t see.

Virgil, his dark eyes flicking to Patton, straightened up. “Oh, you’re up.”

Roman shot him a grin. “Good evening.”

“Hi, you two,” Patton said, eyes darting between them as he took the seat next to Virgil. “What are you… what are you up to?”

Virgil, holding up his hand to cover his mouth, mock whispered, “I’m watching Roman burn your dinner.”

“I am not!” Roman defended and, turning to face his brother, jutted the wooden spoon in his direction. “I am simply doing something nice for our guest! _ Someone  _ in this castle has to have manners.”

Virgil threw his hands up. “Okay, but Janus is the one who scared the shit out of him!  _ And  _ he’s been upstairs all day!”

“And what does that have to do with anyone else?” Roman quipped, turning back to the stove.

Virgil rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

Patton gave him a smile. “I think you’re doing just fine.” And, as Virgil ducked his head, he said to Roman, “You too, Roman! I didn’t even know you guys had food here!”

“We didn’t,” Roman said, taking the pan off the flame. “Turns out Remus… wasn’t lying about there being stuff around here?”

“Well, I think we knew he wasn’t lying,” Virgil said as Roman took down a plate from one of the cabinets.

“Well, yeah, but-” He huffed and, portioning out Patton’s plate, he turned to him and explained, “We were a kingdom based in the woods. Of course it wasn’t always this…  _ overgrown,  _ but everyone still knew where to hunt or where to find vegetation.” He set the plate down and took the seat to the other side of Patton. “We just didn’t know what… survived.”

Patton, nodding, smiled. “Well, it was very kind of you two to make me something!”

“Oh, it was Roman,” Virgil corrected.

Roman raised his eyebrows. “Oh- uh, thank you, Virgil, for-”

“I just don’t want to be roped into this when Patton eats burnt food.”

As Virgil smirked at him from across the table, Roman narrowed his eyes. “I used to cook all the time and you know it! If it’s  _ overdone,  _ it’s just because I’m a little rusty.”

Patton, having already started eating (a little overdone, but still delicious), remembered his table manners and, after swallowing, said, “You don’t eat?”

Roman and Virgil shared a quick look before Roman, shaking his head, said, “Not… human food.”

Patton, mentally kicking himself, nodded. “Well, this is very good, Roman,” he said, smiling. “Thank you.”

Roman beamed. “Oh, of course! Just trying to make your stay here as luxurious as possible.”

After a little bit of silence, Virgil cleared his throat. “Uh, how are- how did you sleep?” Before Patton could even think of a response, he rushed out, “Not that I or- or any of us were watching! We just—well, me and Roman—knocked earlier and you didn’t answer so we assumed-”

When Patton set down his fork and smiled at him, Virgil clamped his mouth shut. Patton couldn’t help but laugh a little, and Roman snorted from next to him.

“I slept well,” he answered. “I- I’m sorry for sleeping through the whole day, though! That feels so rude of me.”

Roman shook his head. “We only just woke about… an hour or two ago? I don’t think Janus ever rests, but we might as well just be starting the day!”

Patton furrowed his eyebrows. “You’re nocturnal?”

“Basically,” Virgil said, shrugging.

“Is it because…” Patton trailed off, suddenly realizing how rude that question would have been.

Roman smiled. “You can ask it, Patton. We won’t be offended.”

“But it feels rude!”

“Listen, I think you’re the nicest person this castle has seen in a while,” Virgil said. Patton blushed and Virgil, catching that, averted his eyes.

“I think I’m always nice,” Roman said, leaning forward on his elbows. “But, to answer your question, which I’m  _ assuming  _ is something like if we’re nocturnal because we’re vampires or undead or whatever: kind of?”

“The sun is a pain in the ass,” Virgil added.

Roman nodded. “And the kingdom wasn’t always like this-” And he gestured to outside the window at the canopy above “-So we had to change how we rested unless we wanted to be  _ severely _ uncomfortable for the entire day.”

Patton nodded. “So you just sleep normally but during the day?”

“I’ve never slept normally in my life,” Virgil said.

“And it’s more of a meditation, really,” Roman added. “We don’t  _ need _ to rest—Janus rarely does and we’ve all gone some time without it—but it keeps us… I don’t know, strong? I just like my beauty sleep.”

“Well, maybe I’ll sync up with you guys,” Patton said.

Roman laughed. “Perhaps,” he said. “Virgil barely rests anyway, so that won’t be too hard.”

“Well, no rest for the wicked,” Virgil deadpanned.

“In  _ my _ kingdom,” Patton said, “We say that if you can’t sleep, it means someone’s thinking about you!”

“Wonderful.”

Roman snorted.

After a couple more minutes, Patton, finishing up his meal, said, “So the trees weren’t always like this?”

Both the brothers looked out the window and shook their heads.

“Is it magic or something?” Patton continued. “My friend— _ advisor,  _ but also my friend—knows all the magic stuff, but it’s so different out here than it is by my kingdom.”

_ “Janus  _ probably knows,” Roman said. There was too much edge to his words for them to be merely conversational.

Virgil eyed Roman, and the look must have been intense enough because Roman continued with, “Don’t look at me like that! I was just  _ saying-” _

“No, I know what you’re saying,” Virgil interrupted, “Don’t. He knows what we do.” Roman, who looked like he was about to say something, was further cut off by, “This isn’t even a conversation we should be having right now and you know it.”

“I was just kidding,” Roman mumbled. The look on his face and the glare Virgil gave him told Patton otherwise. Nonetheless, Roman stood and, taking Patton’s empty plate, quickly washed it in the sink. “Well,” he continued, “I’m heading to the sitting room. If either of you would care to join me, be my guest.”

“Oh, yeah!” Patton beamed. “I haven’t seen that part of the castle yet!” He then turned to Virgil. “Are you coming, too?”

Virgil opened his mouth to say something before stopping himself and shrugging. “You know what? Sure.” He stood. “I can be social for a little bit.”

Patton, grinning, stood as well.

Following the brothers out of the dining room, he still marvelled at his new surroundings as they turned down the hall, illuminated with each oil lamp Roman and Virgil switched on.

Reaching the sitting room at the end of the hall, adjacent to the closed off throne room, Roman waved him in. “After you!”

Patton smiled and walked in. Arranged neatly around the room were velvet chairs and loveseats. A large window took up the entirety of one of the walls, while another was taken up by a floor-to-ceiling mirror. The other two walls, similar to the rest of the castle, held shelves and portraits. These portraits, unlike the ones of the brothers growing up throughout the years, displayed the brothers in their princely attire, their father with his crown and scepter, and a red-headed woman (the queen, assumedly) with her own crown and a smile Patton had seen cross the brothers’ faces.

With its own little bookshelves and a desk or two, it was like the library on the highest floor except made to be more for show than anything else. 

Virgil took one of the loveseats by the mirror, once again curling his legs up underneath him, and Patton took the cushion next to him.

In the mirror’s reflection, Patton furrowed his eyebrows, for it seemed that Roman had left them to their own devices-

And then Patton had to choke down his shock as Roman, gliding past where the two of them were sitting, took the adjacent chair.

Patton tried not to stare, tried not to make it too obvious, but no matter how many times he double and triple checked, all he saw in the mirror was himself and Virgil.

“You know, the sunlight used to make this room look beautiful,” Roman mused. He reached over to the tea table situated in front of them (clear in the mirror’s reflection) and picked up one of the books left on it.

In the mirror, all Patton could focus on was how the book looked like it was floating on its own volition.

“I- I still think it’s nice,” Patton said, managing to keep the shock out of his voice.

As Roman flipped open the book to a bookmarked page, Patton caught Virgil’s eyes in the mirror.

Virgil shook his head. 

Eventually, though, the shock turned to unrelated small talk between Patton and Virgil, which then turned into general conversation that Roman would occasionally make commentary on as he flipped through the pages of his book.

And, when the front doors of the castle crashed open, that same book was launched across the room as all three of them whipped their heads towards the sound.

“Remus?” Roman shouted, already running out of the sitting room. “What is-”

And then Roman skidded to a halt, his eyes widening on something that neither Patton nor Virgil could see. 

“What the fuck,” Roman said slowly, “Have you done?”

From out in the parlor, Remus laughed. “Just taking a page out of Janus’s book!”

At that, Virgil and Patton shared a look before sprinting out of the sitting room. 

Before Patton could get his bearings, he was dizzied by two bright blue lights shooting past him, colliding with both Roman and Virgil and sending them sprawling into the closed doors of the throne room. A wave of coolness encompassed him and then expanded out and, as the flashing lights faded from his dazed eyes, he squinted through… a silver, translucent barrier?

After that, it only took a moment for his brain to catch up with his eyes, and he gasped loudly at Logan in the parlor, his one hand outstretched towards Patton and his other clutching his staff tightly. The same silver bubble surrounded Logan, his body rigid as his eyes darted between Roman, Virgil, and Remus (who also seemed to have been taken off guard by Logan’s blast of magic). 

With a beastly growl, Remus recovered, and Patton watched as, once again, blue sparks started to shoot from the palm of Logan’s free hand. His heart pounding in his chest, Patton forced his body to sprint forward, though his movements felt sluggish in the barrier.

“Don’t- don’t- don’t-!” Patton screamed, too focused on whatever was about to happen in front of him to finish his thought. “Logan, stop!”

The spell in Logan’s hand died off as his head whipped to Patton (and Remus, charging Logan, bounced off the forcefield surrounding him.

Logan gaped at him. “Patton-”

“Stop!” Patton repeated, his feet stumbling over themselves as he pushed himself into the parlor. He spun to Remus, growling and readying to charge again, and stuck his hands out in front of him. “He’s not going to hurt you!” And then, to Virgil and Roman, recovered and running towards them (not as aggressively, but Patton was too overwhelmed to care). “He’s  _ not  _ going to hurt you!”

“Patton, we have to get out of here!” Logan shouted. His eyes shot panicked looks to the barriers as, just for a second, they flickered.

“Wait- Logan,  _ wait-” _ Patton pleaded and, as he turned to his best friend, kept his hands up. “Wait, I can-”

And then Logan’s eyes shifted upwards to something behind Patton, and Patton’s stomach was already sinking as he turned around to face the staircase.

Janus stared back down at him and, for a moment, his face held a look of genuine shock.

And then it twisted into a snarl as his eye narrowed on Patton. “Knew you couldn’t be trusted.”

As Janus began to charge, the force fields surrounding them flickered out and Patton braced for impact as Logan readied another spell and-

“Janus!” Roman shouted, throwing himself in front. He was barely knocked off balance when Janus slammed into him.

Janus staggered back, his uncovered eye wild as it landed on Roman (though Patton couldn’t ignore how the pupil had become a slit). Fangs bared, he hissed,  _ “What?” _

“Enough!” Roman snapped. “Obviously  _ he-” _ And he flailed his hand towards Patton “-Wasn’t the one behind this!”

“I know! _ Really, _ brother,” Remus piped up, smirking. “You doubt me so much!”

Janus, turning to Remus with a snarl, shoved Roman out of the way as he bounded towards the other twin. Virgil, watching wide-eyed from the sidelines, winced as Roman stumbled into place next to him. 

“He-” and Remus, seemingly unfazed by Janus stomping towards him, pointed at Logan “-Was looking for our new friend!” He then shot a smile over to the two of them. “Wanted to know if we _ took _ him.”

Knees shaking, Patton tightly gripped Logan’s arm. 

Janus grabbed Remus by his collar and dragged him in. “And so you took him here?” he shouted. “A fucking mage?”

“He’s not going to hurt you!” Patton repeated again. He was lucky to get the words out, his tongue felt heavy in his mouth. 

“Patton,” Logan hissed, “What are you doing?”

“Logan, I have so much I need to explain-!”

Janus barked out a laugh and turned sharply to glare at Patton. “Oh, I think you do!” Practically throwing Remus off to the side, he started towards him again. “I think you have  _ a lot _ to-”

“Don’t take another step closer!” Logan snapped, holding his hand out.

“Logan, it’s okay!” Patton begged, yanking Logan’s hand back.

“Okay?” Logan shouted. “How can  _ this _ be okay?”

“Okay!  _ Enough!” _ Roman exclaimed, somehow managing to be the loudest in the room, and threw his hands up. He stepped forward, leaving Virgil (who looked as if he was about to faint) to shadow him. “Enough shouting! Enough fighting! Enough magic! This is getting us nowhere, and we’re all going to end up killing each other before getting a single answer!”

Somehow, even to Roman’s surprise, his commanding worked, and all heads in the room turned to him. 

“Okay,” Roman said, his voice much more level as he looked between everyone in the room. “Okay.” Finally, his eyes fell on Logan. “I’m going to take a  _ wild  _ guess, and say that you are Patton’s magical advisor.”

It took Patton nudging him in the side to get Logan to nod.

“Great.” Roman then looked to Patton. “I’m going to take it that you didn’t know he was going to be here?”

Patton nodded. “I- I didn’t.”

Roman nodded as well. “Okay… okay.” He turned to Remus. “This is obviously your doing, yes?”

Remus smirked and shrugged.

Roman sucked in a breath as his fists clenched but, nonetheless, he shook himself off and nodded. “Wonderful.”

And then, finally, Roman turned to Janus. Studying his older brother for a moment, he narrowed his eyes and he simply said, “Calm down.”

Janus’s lip curled, baring his long fangs once again. “Look at  _ you, _ taking charge.”

Roman ignored him and turned back to Logan. “So, Royal Mage Advisor—Logan, was it?—despite all evidence to the contrary, thanks to my brother’s doing, we are not here to hurt you or Patton-”

“Are you okay?” Patton, his nerves finally claiming the best of him, rushed out. “The- the magic- it’s not going to happen again- he just-”

Roman flashed Patton a smile and, after eyeing both Remus and Virgil, nodded. “It’ll take a lot more than that to hurt us,” he said. “Right, boys?”

While Remus didn’t entertain an answer, Virgil—who had yet to find his voice—nodded.

“So, yes, we’re fine,” Roman continued and moved his smiling gaze from Patton back to Logan. “I think it’s safe to say that we’re all a little… riled up right now, yes? So, Logan—and forgive me if I do not use a proper title, it has been  _ so _ long—how about I start you with some introductions, yes?” He began pointing. “Janus, Remus, Virgil-” And, finally, he laid a hand to his own chest “-And I’m Roman. It’s a pleasure.”

Logan, still visibly on edge, gritted his teeth. “Charmed,” he finally said.

Roman, sweeping a hand out to his brothers, then said, “Anything you three want to say?”

Remus shrugged. “He wanted to find his prince,” he said. “I did nothing wrong.”

Janus, his gaze still shooting between all of them, said, “I don’t know who I want to kill more.”

Logan tensed beside Patton again, and the look Roman gave Janus could have killed  _ him. _

“We-” Virgil began before clearing his throat. His eyes darted between all of them before finally going to where Logan and Patton stood by the entrance. “We- we aren’t going to do anything.”

“Isn’t this going well?” Roman asked, smiling and nodding. He then turned to Patton. “Anything you want to say?”

Patton, looking up at Logan, faltered a few times before finally finding his words. “I know what you’re thinking,” he whispered. “Please just trust me.”

“Patton, if these creatures  _ trapped _ you-”

“They didn’t,” Patton interrupted, quickly shaking his head. “I…” He swallowed thickly. “I came here.”

Logan’s eyes, once cold and hard, turned to disbelief as they widened on Patton.

“Please trust me,” Patton repeated, his voice trembling. “I can… I  _ will _ explain. Later. Just- Logan, _ please.” _

Logan shook his head slowly. “Patton… _ what _ are you doing?”

Patton swallowed thickly. “We can talk later,” he pleaded. “But- but Logan, I’m asking you as my _ friend, _ not my advisor! Just… I need you to trust me for right now.” He worried his bottom lip. “Please.”

Logan stared down at him before finally sighing and crossing his arms. “It seems I have no choice.”

Patton would admit, hearing that didn’t feel  _ entirely _ great. Still, though, he swallowed the lump in his throat—either growing from his nerves or from the feelings overwhelming him—and turned to Janus.

“I know what this looks like,” he said. He forced himself to stay composed as Janus’s glare hardened at him. “But… but neither of us are here to hurt any of you.”

“And how am I supposed to believe that?” Janus bit, taking a step forward.

Patton couldn’t help but stumble back.

At that, Virgil stepped forward, holding a hand out at Janus. “Because he didn’t plan this!” 

Janus clenched his fists. “And how are you so sure?”

“Because I was there!” Remus, grinning, held up a hand. “And this fool-” He pointed at Logan “-Didn’t know anything!”

“And I’m  _ sure _ we can take your word,” Janus condescended with a sneer. Remus’s shit-eating grin fell.

“Oh, that isn’t a lie,” Logan finally spoke up. “It’s true I didn’t know where Patton was. He just led me here.”

Janus’s eye twitched. “So he did! Well-”

“Well!” Roman interrupted. “We can deal with that later! I’m sure we  _ all _ have things we must now deal with, no?”

Everyone in the room shared a look before nodding.

Roman beamed. “Great! So how about we-” And he motioned to his brothers “-Go have a chat, while  _ you two _ go have a chat of your own?” 

Patton looked up at Logan. “We can talk upstairs,” he said quietly.

Logan let out a bitter laugh of disbelief, shaking his head. “Lead the way, then.”

Patton hesitated for a moment longer, fumbling with his hands as if that could replace the nervous words catching in his throat, before nodding. He stepped around the brothers and began his way up the stairs, Logan shadowing him from behind.

Giving one final look over his shoulder, Patton watched as Janus dragged Remus down the hall to the sitting room with Roman following in tow. Virgil, catching Patton staring, shot him a worried look before following his brothers.

Patton flinched as the doors to the sitting room slammed shut.

And, as he and Logan finally reached his own room and let the door click behind them, Patton felt like the tension was going to consume him. “Please don’t be mad-”

Logan laughed sharply as he looked around the room. “I see that you already have your own room.”

“Logan,” Patton whimpered, but couldn’t find much else to say.

Logan spun to face him. Patton ducked his head so that he wouldn’t have to see his expression any longer. “Patton,” he said slowly,  _ “Please _ tell me that you did not actually come here on your own volition.”

“I-” Patton couldn’t lie to him. Instead, he just bit his bottom lip and shuffled his feet.

Logan huffed and Patton heard him begin to move, begin to pace.

“I cannot believe-” He cut himself off, and Patton could just imagine him exasperated and running his hands through his hair “-You really did, didn’t you? I can’t- you  _ have _ to know that this was a bad idea, yes? A _ reckless  _ idea? Dangerous, even! Patton, what were you _ thinking?” _

“I- I don’t know,” he whispered, keeping his eyes on the carpet.

“You don’t know?” Logan repeated and, bitterly, laughed again. “You don’t know! You just- you just  _ came here? _ Just thought it would be a good idea?”

Patton whipped his head up. “You don’t understand!”

Logan stopped in his tracks, staring down Patton. “I don’t?” he asked. “Then, by all means, the floor is yours!”

“I- I-” Patton stammered, “It’s… complicated.”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Was it something concerning your father?”

Patton’s stomach plummeted, but he stayed silent.

Logan, after studying him for a moment longer, huffed and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Thought so,” he muttered before looking back at Patton. “Well, we can’t stay.  _ You _ can’t stay.”

Patton’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

“Why do you think I came here, Patton?” Logan asked, taking a step closer. “To have a chat? Meet these creatures?”

“Don’t- they have names.”

Logan gaped at him. “After that displayal downstairs, you’re still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt?”

“You-” Patton balled his fists, frowning “-You attacked first!”

“Because how am I supposed to trust them when you’re here?” Logan snapped, throwing his hands up. “You are my greatest friend, Patton, but it is my  _ job _ to keep you safe! What else am I  _ supposed  _ to do?”

“You don’t understand-!”

“What I  _ understand _ is that you are making a foolish decision right now!” Patton tried to ignore the stinging behind his eyes as Logan, even if he didn’t mean to, raised his voice. “What I  _ understand _ is that you have thrown yourself into danger and expect me to just watch it happen! If you think I am just going to stand by while you  _ allow _ yourself to be in this situation, then you have  _ severely _ misunderstood the respect I have for my duties and-”

“Then leave!” Patton burst out, unable to stop the tears that blurred his vision. “Because- because I don’t want my advisor right now, I want my friend!” He angrily scrubbed at his eyes and tried not to feel worse when the tears—made from the stress and the frustration and the _everything_ —still cascaded down his cheeks. “And you don’t- you don’t _understand,_ Logan, so please stop yelling! If you don’t want to stay here, fine! Go back to the castle and, I don’t know, make something up! Because I’m staying! I just-” His voice broke and, looking away sharply, he finally found his voice, quiet and weak, “I just want my friend, and I want you to trust me and stand by me without me having to tell you why, and- and _please_ stop yelling at me.”

Logan was silent as Patton once again rubbed at his eyes, his glasses fogging from the tears. He sucked in a shaky breath, clenching his fists, and Logan, slowly, took another step forward.

“Patton,” he said quietly, “I- I apologize-”

Patton shook his head, looking back down. “It’s okay,” he mumbled.

“It’s obviously not.” Patton didn’t look up again until Logan was right in front of him. “I shouldn’t have raised my voice. That was… unfair of me. I am… frustrated…  _ concerned, _ but I shouldn’t take that out on you.”

“It’s okay,” Patton repeated and a small, sad smile crossed Logan’s face.

“You don’t have to say it’s okay if it isn’t.”

Patton’s lip trembled as he looked down again. “I just-” He cut his shaking voice off and sucked in a deep breath “-I… I can’t explain it. It’s… it’s hard. Really hard. But I want you on my side!  _ Need _ you on my side. And I just got… really upset because- because I’m already stressed and things are already complicated and I just thought you would understand.” He huffed and shook his head as whatever tears remained dripped down his cheeks. “And I- I know you’re worried, and I know this all looks really scary and really bad, but I… I’m staying, Logan.”

Logan was silent for a couple moments. Patton kept his head ducked.

“Do you know how scared I was when I realized that you were missing?” he asked quietly.

Patton bit his bottom lip. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Patton smiled sadly and looked up. “You don’t have to say it’s okay if it isn’t.”

Logan chuckled. “I’m just glad I found you… safe, it seems.”

“They haven’t done anything to me,” he said quietly. After a hesitation, he shrugged. “I mean, until… yeah.”

Logan nodded, looking around the room as he searched for his words. “They are not… what I expected.”

Patton nodded.

“Well,” Logan said, looking back to Patton, “Hopefully they will not mind another guest.”

Patton’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“While I am your advisor, and it is my responsibility to bring you back to the castle… you are also my friend, and a friend I care for very deeply. I think it would be a much greater crime to upset my friend than it would be to bring you back.”

Patton smiled. “A lot of people back at the castle would think otherwise.”

Logan sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Don’t remind me,” he murmured. “Just… I do not want to leave you. For safety reasons, of course, but also… you are my  _ friend, _ Patton.”

Patton beamed, another lump forming in his throat, and he rushed forward to wrap his arms tightly around Logan. “Thank you, Lo,” he mumbled into his chest.

Logan, recovering from the air knocked out of him, laughed softly and hugged him back. “Of course.”

“I’m sorry for making you worry.”

“And I’m sorry for making you cry.”

“You know I’m sensitive.”

“I do, and it’s a quality I appreciate greatly.”

Patton giggled and pulled away. “Such a charmer.”

Logan rolled his eyes but couldn’t hold back a smile; however, his expression shifted into a frown once more, and Patton furrowed his eyebrows as he watched his friend search for words once more.

“I was speaking with your father back at the castle,” Logan finally said. “He… he mentioned that you two spoke last night and, while I don’t know what was said, I could infer… enough about it.”

Patton frowned and looked away but, nonetheless, nodded.

“And you do not have to tell me what was said,” Logan continued, “But just know that… I _ am _ on your side. And rarely the things he says are accurate.”

Patton smiled ever so slightly up at him. “Thank you.” He reached forward and, taking Logan’s hands in his own, squeezed. “I… really appreciate that.”

Logan smiled, which soon turned to a grimace once again.

“Lo?”

“I should… apologize for my behavior before as well. It was…  _ extremely _ irresponsible of me to use my magic without second thought.”

Patton laughed slightly. “Well, luckily no one was actually hurt,” he said. “But I think you have a _ couple _ of people to apologize to.”

Logan sighed. “It seems I do.”

“But it’s okay!” Patton beamed. “This is how you work at building bridges!”

Logan eyed him. “Let’s take this situation one step at a time, yes?”

Patton showed Logan to the guest room next to his own and made a mental note to check with the brothers that that was okay (and then made a further mental note as to what he should do if it wasn’t) and, when he was leaving, he found Virgil about to knock on the door to his own room.

“Oh! Virgil!”

Virgil startled, his head whipping towards Patton. “Oh, Patton. I was just, uh, checking in and-... are you okay?”

Patton then realized that he must have looked a bit like a mess.

“Oh, yeah,” he laughed, smiling sheepishly. “Things just got… a little messy. But it’s okay now! Actually, is it...” He trailed off, pointing to the other guest room door.

Virgil, looking to the door, nodded. “It’s fine, we have guest rooms for a reason,” he said. Then, flicking his eyes back to Patton, he lowered his voice, “Do you need me to… talk to him? I- I don’t know how much help I can be, but…”

Patton, smiling, shook his head as he began to walk with Virgil down the hall. “Thank you,” he said, “But I think we’re okay. We talked. He was just worried and-” He lowered his voice to a whisper “-Sometimes he can get a bit emotional in his own way. Don’t tell him I told you, though.”

Virgil laughed dryly. “Secret’s safe with me.”

“But are  _ you _ okay?” Patton asked and then quickly followed with, “I mean, of course I’m concerned about all of you, but you looked… pretty spooked.”

“Oh.” Virgil, looking away, ran his fingers through his hair. “Uh, yeah. I’m fine. Just… it’s been a while since we’ve had a mage around here. And it’s been a while since I’ve seen Janus like  _ that. _ But- yeah, I’m fine.” He shrugged. “We all are. Janus is a bit… pissed, and he just tore into Remus before storming off but- sorry, I’m rambling. We’re fine.”

Patton laughed softly. “You’re okay,” he said. “I asked, didn’t I?”

Virgil, eyeing him, finally gave a small smile. “Guess you did.”

“You know, though,” Patton said and, reaching the stairs, leaned against the banister, “I’m surprised at how Roman handled that. He- not that I thought he couldn’t, but he seems so…”

“Dramatic?” Virgil filled in and Patton nodded. He chuckled. “Listen, don’t tell him this, he has a big enough ego, but he was the… people-person of the four of us. He’s… pretty damn good at talking.”

Patton nodded again and then, after a hesitation, continued, “And speaking of Roman…”

“The mirror thing?”

“Yeah…”

Virgil huffed, blowing his hair out of his eyes. “Don’t mention that to him, either. That ego? Also makes him a _ bit _ defensive. So just…” He shrugged. “Pretend?”

Patton nodded. “Can do,” he said with a smile, which Virgil returned. “And… I should probably talk to all of you, right? Apologize? I know- at least, I _ hope _ Logan will, but I want to make sure that you all know that he is  _ no _ threat and this wasn’t something I thought would happen and-”

Virgil held a hand up. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “We still have to… talk because, after just screaming at Remus, Janus stormed off—which, honestly? Pretty typical—but we know. Well, at least me, Roman, and Remus do. Janus will come around. He’s not an idiot. I would just… wait to bring it up. Especially to him.”

“Of course, yeah.” He then looked back to his room and, turning back to Virgil, “I actually think I’m going to turn in for the night. It’s been… a day.” He huffed out a laugh and Virgil’s lips quirked up in a small smile. “But… thank you for checking in. And for helping me out today.”

Virgil raised his eyebrows. “Oh, uh, I didn’t really do much but- you’re welcome.”

“Well, whatever you think you did,” Patton said, “I appreciate it.” Virgil blinked at him and Patton smiled. “Good night, Virgil.”

“N-Night, Patton.”

Before shutting his door behind him, Patton gave Virgil one last smile and small wave.

\--

When Patton awoke, his room was shrouded in complete darkness, and his eyes took much longer than normal to blink into focus. Slapping around on the side table for his glasses, he finally found them and, pushing them on, he squinted up at the clock to see that it was just past three.

He grimaced at his dry mouth and, just as he laid down to fall back into his slumber, he remembered that, for the rest of the castle, this was the middle of the day… probably?

Honestly, Patton didn’t understand the semantics yet, but he was tired and thirsty and the brothers would understand if he went down by himself into the dining room.

… Probably?

He could hope, at least. It seemed that they had enough hospitality, so it’d be fine (probably) and-

Patton yawned and, shaking himself from his sleepy ramblings, got out of bed.

He carefully, quietly, made his way out of the room and into the guest wing. With all the oil lamps unlit, the halls were just as dark as his bedroom, and he gently ran his hand along the wall to make sure he wasn’t about to walk into something.

It was when he was halfway down the final staircase, however, that he realized “something” could be more than just a wall or a doorframe.

“-saying is-” Janus’s voice, coming from the sitting room, startled Patton just a bit too much, “-we don’t actually know! Think about it! A mage just happens to show up the same day that the Prince of the Hartt Kingdom does? Or, better yet, the Hartt Prince just shows up  _ at all? _ And we’re supposed to believe that this is just some coincidence? We’re supposed to  _ trust  _ this?”

Patton peered over the railing and only saw the dim lights flickering from the sitting room.

It was Virgil who spoke up next, “Janus, don’t be a dumbass. Patton isn’t even the one who  _ brought _ Logan here. You know that none of this could’ve been planned.”

“But  _ how _ do we know that he isn’t planning _ something?” _ In the darkness, Janus’s voice sent chills up Patton’s spine.

“Because he’s here! He got through! You _ can’t _ ignore that.”

Patton couldn’t see into the room they were in, and Janus’s silence just confused him even more.

“Unless,” Remus piped up, “There’s something you aren’t telling us! Isn’t that right, Roman?”

“Don’t even start-” Roman growled.

“Enough, both of you!” Janus snapped. “Remus, stop provoking him, and Roman, I know as much as you! If you don’t trust me, after all this time? That’s your problem!”

Patton could imagine Roman crossing his arms, or maybe sneering. “You say that as if I don’t have cause.”

“Holy shit, the both of  _ you!” _ Virgil groaned. “Enough! You guys bitching aren’t going to get us anywhere!”

Another silence passed.

“Well, for whatever it’s worth,” Janus said, “We have guests now. But that doesn’t mean we trust them enough to tell-”

And Patton, taking one more step down, had the wind knocked out of him as his foot slipped on the carpeting and sent him crashing down. He barely bit back a whimper of pain and could only imagine the bruising he would have on his back in the morning.

This time, the silence was deafening.

“What was that?” Janus hissed.

“Hmm, maybe this trust  _ will _ be tested!” Remus laughed.

Patton was already scrambling up the stairs, trying to be as quiet as he could be when it felt like he was running for his life.

“Virgil, go look.”

“Why do I have- okay, whatever, fine.”

Patton was almost at the top of the stairs when, even in the darkness, he saw Virgil poke his head around and look up.

Their eyes met and, for a moment, they were both still.

Then Patton, his heart in his throat, shook his head.

Virgil, after a hesitation, nodded. 

Then, looking back down the hall he came from, he called back to his brothers, “Nothing’s here.”

Patton was finally able to breathe.

“Spooky,” Roman said.

Which Remus followed with, “Maybe this castle’s haunted!”

“I can’t with either of you,” Janus said. “Virgil, are you coming back or what?”

“Nagging won’t make me move any faster.”

Then, looking up at Patton one final time, Virgil walked back into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and thus ends patton's very long, weird, wild first day with these four funky vampire dudes
> 
> also i was tempted to joke like "oh lmao what if logan just never showed up to the castle after meeting remus and was never mentioned again" but i didn't even want to give u guys that idea
> 
> and, as always, thank you for reading, and feedback is always appreciated!!!! :D
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	6. chapter five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, whatever magic they did to become undead,” Patton said, “You think there’s a similar type of magic at work… here?”

If there was one thing that worked to wake Patton up amidst walking alone in the castle halls, it was the realization that he could not find Logan anywhere.

Which was, as some might guess, concerning.

After circling through the castle three times—checking and rechecking the library and the sitting room, all the while holding onto the hope that Logan was smart enough to avoid even thinking about venturing into the brothers’ bedrooms—and coming up empty-handed, Patton was almost ready to upgrade from “mild panic” to “holy smokes something has gone terrible wrong.”

Almost, that is, until, as he walked by one of the tall windows looking out into the courtyard, a shimmering blue light in the distance caught his eye. 

Slowing his step until, eventually, backtracking completely, Patton peered out the window into the darkness. For another moment, the courtyard was just as still and lifeless as it was when Patton first arrived.

And then, at the Wall of Vines, another streak of blue light passed as if a hand was passing over it.

Patton’s legs were already carrying him down the spiral of stone steps outside the large castle doors. If, in their sprint, his feet almost skidded out from under him in a feat that would’ve sent him crashing down to the overgrown courtyard, he paid no mind.

Sprinting around the corner of one of the dilapidated buildings on the edge of the kingdom, he found Logan. Back to him, seemingly unaware of Patton’s interruption to whatever he was doing, Logan held his spell book in one hand as, silently, he waved the other in front of the vines. His fingers left blue light to float in the air for a moment before dimming with a quiet hiss.

The vines, making no movement, shimmered under Logan’s magic.

“Logan!” Patton whispered.

Logan startled, his book fumbling out of his hands, and he spun to face Patton. His eyes wide behind his square frames, he blinked at Patton before finally finding his voice, “Oh, good morning, Patton. Apologies for not hearing you approach.”

“You’re fine.” Walking forward, Patton picked up his spellbook. Casting a worried look at the worn cover, he continued with, “Uh, what’cha doin’ out here?”

“Conducting a… study, you could say,” Logan explained as he took his book back.

Patton couldn’t figure out whether or not that was the answer he wanted to hear.

“A study on… what?” He asked, stepping up alongside Logan as he turned to face the Vine Wall. Looking up, he had to tilt his head all the way back to see where it ended.

“On this barrier, of course.” Looking back to his book, he flipped a page before waving his hand again in another streak of blue light.

Patton furrowed his eyebrows. “You’re not… doing anything to it, are you?”

Logan chuckled. “I can’t.”

“Logan!”

“No, I mean-” Logan cut himself off with a sigh. “I have used every magical detection spell that I know on this barrier. There is _literally_ nothing I can do to… change, harm, or even fully _understand_ this barrier.”

Patton turned his confused look back to the vines. “What does that… mean?”

“It means- actually, allow me to show you!” Logan smiled down at Patton and, with a snap, his hand caught fire.

Before Patton could even react, Logan was shooting it at the wall.

At Patton’s horrified look, Logan held up a hand and, together, they watched as the fire licked its way up the wall, encasing the braided vines and the thorns… before sizzling out, leaving the vines unharmed.

“As our people have discovered over the past century,” Logan explained, “This wall cannot be brought down by mortal _or_ magical means. Perhaps it could be climbed, if someone really wished to risk both the thorns and the death that would come if they fell from such a height, but this is no normal barrier.”

“So it’s magical,” Patton said.

Logan, smiling, nodded. “Of course,” he confirmed, “But it’s… still odd. Most spells… cannot last this long. I can illuminate a room with light for an hour. I can be invisible for the better part of fifteen minutes. I can shield us for, at most? A minute. This-” And he gestured to the wall “-Has been standing for over a hundred years.”

Patton frowned. “I… don’t see where you’re going with this.”

“There is still magic at work here,” Logan said. “Powerful magic. That is not what I find surprising, actually. I have a theory that this… curse the brothers are under is the result of a spell for power, a spell for indescribable vitality, gone wrong.”

“But the legend says that the brothers…” Checking over his shoulder, Patton lowered his voice, “Brought it upon themselves.”

“And that I believe,” Logan said with a nod. “But my spellbook, a relic passed down for a century, holds no curse of vampirism. I can only assume that _this_ all became the… unwanted side effect of a power trip.” Then, looking back down at his book, he laughed softly. “But forgive my tangent. I’m more so focused on this barrier, which I can at least try to understand, instead of taking educated guesses.”

“So, whatever magic they did to become undead,” Patton said, “You think there’s a similar type of magic at work… here?”

Logan, thinking, cocked his head. “Not… exactly,” he said. “Or- well, perhaps. But the big difference is that, a hundred years ago, they would have needed a mage for whatever spell they had _intended_ to use that resulted in this curse. Now, though? There are no mages here, and yet they have had an incredibly magical barrier standing for all this time.”

Patton, silent for a while, finally said, “So there’s something else here.”

Logan beamed. “Precisely,” he said. “It’s… incredibly uncommon, but not unheard of, for those who do not possess magic to… channel a spell, so to speak, with the help of intense emotion.” He rolled his eyes. “It is not my preferred way of harnessing magic because of the instability of emotion, but there have been cases of it before.”

Patton raised his eyebrows. “Could _I_ learn magic?”

“Perhaps,” he answered. “You would just need to channel enough emotion to… sustain it. Another rage to raze a city, or happiness to cure a fatal disease. The level of passion you would need, the level of _desire_ to cast the spell you have set out to do and do it _right…_ it’s immeasurable. Few people have ever done so successfully.”

Patton, nodding, looked back at the castle. “So you think this type of magic is at work here?”

Logan hummed in affirmation. “I do,” he said. “But there’s still more that I don’t know. What emotion fueled this? Many spells to this extent would need to be bound to something, so is there a sigil, or a rune, somewhere in the castle? Who’s maintaining it? Who has the _knowledge_ to maintain a spell for a century?”

Patton, worrying his bottom lip, thought back to Janus’s secrecy, to his shock at Patton getting through the wall…

To his horror at another mage stepping into his castle.

“Perhaps this is just me overthinking,” Logan continued, musing. “Nevertheless, it is captivating. Don’t you think, Patton?”

Looking up at Logan, he swallowed thickly as he debated whether or not he should mention his suspicions.

For just a split second, he found himself… scared of what it would mean if others found out how this magic worked.

He decided on just smiling. “You know me, Lo,” he said. “I’ve always loved magic.”

Logan smiled, too. “So I’m aware.” He then looked to the wall and, carefully, placed a hand on one of the vines. “I’m curious as to who let you through. Remus could open up a… door-way, and I wonder if all the brothers have that power.”

“Oh, uh,” Patton said, “I think all the brothers can? At least- at least Virgil said he could let me out but I, uh… came through on my own?”

Logan, who had begun to poke at one of the giant thorns, stilled. “You… what?”

Patton shrugged. “I don’t understand it either. I just… talked to the vines, and they let me through.”

Logan, for a long time, stared down at Patton, _studied_ Patton.

“Try to leave,” Logan finally said, quietly.

“What?”

“Just… entertain me, Patton.”

Patton, casting Logan a wary look, placed a hand on the thick vines. “Hey vines,” he said, softly. “It’s, uh… me again.” He shot Logan another look, who simply nodded on. “Thank you for, um, letting me in. Could you perhaps… open up again, please?”

The courtyard fell silent as the vines didn’t move and, after a minute of nothing passing, Logan sighed.

“Well this just raises more questions,” He mumbled, shaking his head.

“Like why they let me in?”

“Well, yes, obviously,” he said. “But also is this a spell to keep things in, or out? No one but the brothers has been able to get through, and then you come along and you _can?_ So what determines who can come in and out? Yet you _can’t_ get out. So… is this barrier for protection, or to keep things locked up?”

_“But how do we know that he isn’t planning something?”_

_“Because he’s here! He got through! You can’t ignore that.”_

At the memory, first written off as just confusing, Patton raised his eyebrows. “I think… I think it’s for protection.” He looked up at Logan. “The one thing that shocked them all wasn’t that I got here in the first place, but that I was able to come in on my own.”

“Is that so?” Logan asked. “Did they say why?”

The only thing that came to Patton’s mind was Virgil’s… shock at how “good” of a person he must have been, but that just worsened the headache Patton was feeling come on.

He shook his head. “Honestly, it seems like they’re keeping a lot to themselves.”

Logan, sighing, nodded. “So it seems,” he said. “Perhaps it’s… understandable.”

“I can still see the gears in your head turning, Logan.”

“Can you?” Logan slid him a smirk. “Can I not just be intrigued by strange magic in a strange place? While I love the studies I have taken up with my mentor, to see magic that is not in my own spellbook is… riveting.”

Patton smiled and opened his mouth to say something else when, at the sound of crunching bramble behind them, they both whipped around to see Virgil staring back.

“Oh,” Patton said, “Morning Virgil! I didn’t think you’d be up this… early? Is this early or late for you?”

Virgil flicked his dark eyes between the two of them. “I- I don’t sleep a lot,” he said. “Uh, what are you two… doing out here?”

Patton, suddenly feeling like he had been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to be, fumbled for words while Logan said, “Simply working on my studies.” He shifted his spellbook from one hand to the others. “It’s… easier to do in a less confined space.”

Patton couldn’t tell if that was better or worse than whatever words died on his tongue.

Virgil blinked. “Right.”

“And- And I was just looking for him!” Patton finally managed out.

“Precisely,” Logan confirmed. “And I believe we were finishing up out here, Patton?”

Patton quickly nodded. “Yes!”

Virgil, after a hesitation, nodded and stepped back. “Well,” he said, “Then let’s…?”

“Yes,” Patton said, looking up at Logan who nodded back. “Let’s!”

Patton, as he led the charge back to the castle, noted two things.

One, that Logan was shadowing him particularly close.

Two, that he could feel Virgil’s eyes burning into the back of his head.

\--

As the morning further progressed into the early afternoon with limited activity within the castle walls (asides from the occasional movement heard behind doors as Patton passed through the brothers’ wing), Patton finally made his way into his own room after convincing Logan that he didn’t have to follow him everywhere.

He loved his friend dearly, and truly appreciated his presence, but after growing up with Logan, Patton became fairly good at seeing the difference between Logan’s anxious hovering and Logan’s typical mother hen hovering.

(“I- I have no clue what you’re talking about!” Logan had stammered, blushing, when Patton finally brought it up to him.

“Okay! Whatever you say,” Patton had said with a smile. “Just know that I’ll be okay if I go downstairs on my own. You don’t have to worry, Logan.”)

It had taken some persuading and a lot of assurances that he’ll be fine, but eventually Patton was able to convince Logan that he could spend his afternoon perusing the castle’s library without needing to worry about him.

However, when there was a knock on his door not even fifteen minutes into being alone in his bedroom, Patton couldn’t help but fondly laugh and shake his head.

“Logan, I told you, I’ll be fine!” Swinging open the door, he prepared for more affectionate teasing-

And faltered where he found Virgil standing on the other side.

That morning, after Virgil had followed Patton and Logan into the castle, he had mumbled some reason to go to his room before, without even waiting for an answer, retreating up the stairs. While that hadn’t made Patton feel _great,_ he was able to use Logan’s tendency to mother hen as a distraction and, as Virgil stayed behind his closed door, Patton had started to think he wouldn’t even see him again for the rest of the day.

“Oh, Virgil,” Patton said, blushing. “Sorry, I… I thought you would be Logan.”

“You’re- you’re fine,” Virgil quickly assured, though his tone just made it seem like he wanted to get on with the conversation. “Can I, uh-” He scratched the back of his neck, his eyes darting to look off behind Patton “-Can I talk to you for a second?”

He did his best to ignore how his heart pounded against his ribcage. “Oh. Oh! Yeah- yes, of course.” With a smile that he hoped hid his nerves, he stepped back and opened the door wider.

Virgil, with a faint smile, stepped through.

“So, uh,” Patton said, shutting the door behind them, “Is everything… okay?”

“Uh, maybe- I mean, yes- I think, I mean-” Virgil, frustrated with his own stammering, huffed and ran a hand through his hair. “I was thinking of what I wanted to say for hours and I’m still… anxious about it.”

Well, being honest, that didn’t make Patton feel particularly good. 

“Well, whatever you have to say,” Patton said, forcing his smile to stay on his face, “Take your time! I’m not- not going anywhere!”

Virgil let out a clipped laugh. “Yeah, apparently.” He worried his bottom lip, his fangs poking out, and, just as Patton started to shift under the silence, he continued with, “We can actually trust you, right?”

Patton, frowning, furrowed his eyebrows. “Of course!”

“Then what were you and Logan doing by the vines?”

“Oh, uh-”

“And don’t-” Virgil sighed, shaking his head. “Patton, don’t lie to me. I- I saw his magic from the windows. _What_ were you two doing?”

Patton felt like his stomach was plummeting. 

Even if him and Logan hadn’t done anything wrong, it was a confirmation that they had been encroaching upon something they shouldn’t.

“I went out to the courtyard because I saw his magic, too,” Patton finally answered, his voice quiet. “Logan said he was studying it. He- he means no harm! To your family or the barrier. I- I _know_ that. _I_ told him not to do anything! But he said that… he can’t do anything to the barrier. No one can. Which- which I think we... all know. But then we were just talking about the barrier and what his-” 

Patton, at the thought that maybe Logan’s spells revealed too much, couldn’t help but trail off.

Virgil, his eyes never leaving Patton’s, raised an eyebrow. “His what?”

Patton bit his bottom lip, darting his eyes away for a moment before finally continuing, “He has a lot of… magical detection spells.”

Patton couldn’t ignore how Virgil tensed.

“And- and we got nothing concrete!” Patton rushed out, not stopping to think if that was even true. “Just- just that it’s powerful! And… and for protection?” And, quickly remembering that, _no,_ that had been something _Patton_ suggested, he quickly added, “Or- or just a barrier? Yeah, just a- just a magical barrier!”

Virgil narrowed his eyes. _“Patton-”_

“Okay, I said that I thought it was for protection!” Patton interjected. “I- Logan asked me how I got in, and I told him that I just could! But we don’t know why!”

“Okay.” Virgil, obviously trying to remain calm, nodded. “Okay. Anything… else?”

Patton debated the next part, debated whether or not that would solidify this potential nail in the coffin.

“Logan can’t figure out what’s powering the spell,” he whispered. “He suggested it might be something within the castle. That- that non-mages can do magic if there’s… enough emotion.”

Virgil, finally breaking eye contact, ran his hands over his face. “Okay… okay.”

“I’m sorry!” Patton pleaded. “I didn’t- we didn’t mean to… to step on any toes! I just didn’t know and Logan- he doesn’t mean any harm! He’s just… he’s nervous, I can tell. So he’s just trying to figure out what’s going on and I can tell him not to pry and I- last night? I didn’t even overhear anything, really! Just- I mean, it makes sense for you all to be keeping secrets! I can’t blame you, I just-”

When Virgil held up a hand, Patton snapped his jaw shut.

“Patton,” Virgil said quietly, “You’re fine.”

“Okay,” Patton whispered.

“I just need you to work with me,” Virgil said, his tone level. “Because I am trusting you, and I am sticking my neck out by doing so.”

“Thank you.” Patton could barely hear his own voice.

Virgil laughed dryly. “I appreciate it, because I’m pleading your case. You don’t… know how bad things can go. And I don’t say that to- to scare you or make you, I don’t know, worship the ground I walk on. It’s just the honest truth. Not everyone trusts you. If _other people_ here had it their way, shit could have broken bad.”

Patton flinched.

“And I-” Virgil shook his head, huffing out another laugh “-I don’t say that to be mean. I didn’t even want to- want to _say_ any of this because I didn’t want you to think you were in danger or something, but… I believe I’m right in trusting you. I believe that you’re a… a good person. And I’m willing to work with you. But I need you to work with me, and that means leaving all this-” And he gestured around him “-To us.”

Patton nodded, swallowing thickly. “I’m sorry.”

Virgil, looking away, ran his hand through his hair again. “Honestly, I should be the one saying that. I feel like an asshole.”

“No!” Patton, shaking his head, took a step forward. “You’re- you’re right! I…” He sighed. “I know what all of this looks like. But I mean it when I say it: I mean no harm to your family.”

Virgil allowed himself a small smile. “And I... believe that.”

Patton smiled, too, but it faltered as another thought crossed his mind “It’s Janus, right?” Virgil furrowed his eyebrows. “Who doesn’t trust me.”

“Oh.” Virgil grimaced. “Uh, yeah, but it’s… complicated.”

“How?” When Virgil eyed him, Patton blushed. “I’m just- I’m curious!”

“You know what they say about curiosity and cats, right?”

“I’m actually allergic to cats so I don’t!”

Virgil covered a laugh with a cough. “Okay, okay,” he said, trying to compose himself again. “You really know how to, ah, lighten the mood, don’t you?”

Patton grinned and shrugged.

“But,” Virgil continued, “Not to bring it right back down but… Janus is very…” He trailed off with a sigh, and Patton could practically see his mind turning over to find the right words. “I don’t- I don’t _think_ he would do anything without cause. Just… he’s _really_ territorial, and _really_ protective.”

“It’s good that he cares for you all so much.”

Virgil shrugged. “In his own… way. But, speaking of… shit, I shouldn’t even be telling you this, but... there are things that we cannot tell you. Because, honestly? Janus would have our heads. The reason _I’m_ telling you this is so, just like we’re trusting you, you can trust us.”

“And I do,” Patton said, nodding. “Trust you. You…” He smiled, shrugging. “The fact that you’re… pleading my case says enough. And even your brothers! I… I’ll admit, sometimes I’m a bit… scared, but none of you have done anything to me. And I really think that means something.”

Virgil gave another shrug. “We’re all trying to be on our best behavior. To… some degree. Janus can be _a lot_ and I can be like _this_ and don’t even get me _started_ on the twins and-” He then shut his mouth. “I’m… I’ll just shut up.”

Patton smiled. “You’re fine,” he said. “And I… I really do appreciate all of this, Virgil. I know I’ve said that so many times but… it’s because it’s true.” Virgil shifted under his gaze, looking down. “I trust you because I think you’re _good.”_

Virgil laughed dryly. “Don’t press your luck,” he said. “But… thanks.

Patton jutted a finger at him. “Don’t even try to reject my compliments! Just ask Logan! It never works!”

Virgil held his hands up in defense. “Alright, alright,” he said, chuckling. “But, uh, thanks for listening. And for not… freaking out.”

“Of course!”

“And sorry for being super intense.”

Patton smiled. “Virgil, it’s _okay.”_

Virgil smiled, too. “Well, I’ll, uh, leave you to it,” he said. “And if you need anything… you know where to find me.”

Patton found himself still smiling even after Virgil left.

When Logan eventually brought himself back to Patton, Patton decided to keep his and Virgil’s conversation to himself. The look of relief on Logan’s face was just a bit too heart cinching to risk that.

If Virgil was helping his brothers come around, Patton believed that he owed them the same. Just… in due time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so! idk who here follows me on tumblr and who doesn't (and who even keeps up with my irregular posting), but this chapter was supposed to be a lot longer! the original chapter 5 was at 7.6k words when i finally went "hey, A Lot is happening in this chapter, maybe i should split this!"
> 
> so here is chapter 5, and chapter 6 will hopefully not be too far off!! hopefully in a couple days?
> 
> however, ironically enough, after chapter 6, know that there might start being more week/week-and-a-half gaps in between chapters. to keep myself motivated while also maintaining my daily life (such as managing my mental health and working on my senior thesis), i don't think i'll be able to maintain updates every 3-5 days. my goal is for a chapter every week/week-and-a-half, and fortunately i spent about an hour last night meticulously plotting and planning for this fic, so hopefully i won't be hitting roadblocks like i did with this chapter (if you've been seeing my tumblr posts, you might also have seen that i had to rewrite most parts of this chapter and the next)!! but still, nonetheless, if there are "longer" gaps for certain chapters, such as 2-3 weeks, please know it's bc i want to give you guys quality work. this project means too much for me to abandon, and that means that i need to give myself adequate breaks.
> 
> and, as always, thank you for reading, and feedback is greatly appreciated!! chapter 6 will hopefully be up within the week :)
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	7. chapter six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How would you two like to go hunting with us?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ajkskjsd i did NOT expect for this chapter to take 10 days to be posted (esp bc i had 75% of it completed by the time chapter 5 was posted) but thesis + executive dysfunction + general procrastination is a bitch like that
> 
> also!!! my twin legend was inspired by gothic fiction :)
> 
> also also!! can i just say that all the comments you all leave literally make me so happy like..... y'all are really some of the sweetest readers and make writing this fic so much more fun

As Patton and Logan were coming down the main staircase later that day, they were met with Janus coming out from around the hall.

“Well, would you look at that?” And he clasped his gloved hands together. “Just the two people I was looking for.”

Patton was barely even able to register Logan’s own wide-eyed stare as his own mind spiralled out. He had already known, or at least had assumed, that Janus didn’t trust him. To have heard it confirmed, though, and that things could’ve gone  _ much _ differently…

Patton gripped the railing, forcing himself to smile. “Oh, well, uh, here we are!”

Janus arched an eyebrow, eyeing the two of them. “Please, contain your excitement,” he drawled. “I know I can’t.”

Logan straightened his posture. “What do you require?”

Janus studied Logan, narrowing his eye. “It has been so long since we’ve had an advisor around here,” he mused. “I forgot how difficult it could be to talk to princes.”

“There’s always time to learn again,” Logan said.

“Is everything alright, Janus?” Patton interjected with a smile before…  _ anything else _ could happen.

Janus turned back to him. “Quite,” he said. “We actually have a… proposal for the two of you. So-” And he gestured back down the hallway to the sitting room “-If you two would care to join?”

Patton and Logan shared a look, and Patton allowed himself to be the one who took the first step forward.

Janus smirked. “Wonderful.”

Following Janus down the hall, Patton could hear the twins having a low discussion and, as they neared the doorway, he finally caught snippets of what they were saying.

“-collar is a bit messed up, there,” Remus was saying. “Wanna fix that?”

A hesitation. “Artistic intent, Remus,” Roman said, his voice clipped. “I would know.”

“Whatever you say! Just thought you’d want to check it out.”

When the three of them rounded into the sitting room, they found the other three brothers waiting for them. Virgil, sitting in the desk chair, had one leg pulled up to his chest and, with the other, was rocking the chair back and forth. At first distracted by the twins sitting across from the mirror that took up the far wall (Remus smirking and Roman glaring as he fumbled with his collar), his attention shifted to Patton as he entered, followed by Logan and Janus.

Roman’s eye caught them as well and he replaced his glare with a grin. “Our guests! Hope the day is treating you well?”

“It’s fine,” Logan said. Patton noted how he looked between Roman and the mirror, most definitely noting his lack of a reflection, and was incredibly thankful when he didn’t say anything.

Remus, looking over his shoulder, flashed a jagged grin. “Glad to see Janus brought you here in one piece!”

“Glass houses, Remus,” Janus warned, taking a seat in one of the remaining chairs. “Don’t want to sully the… _ opportunity _ we’re about to give our guests, no?”

Remus, laughing, threw his hand to his chest. “I would never!”

“Well neither of you are helping,” Roman muttered under his breath.

“Can we just cut to the chase?” Virgil rushed out from the back of the room, his eyes narrowing. “Or are you all changing your minds?”

Roman huffed. “We already  _ decided, _ Virgil.”

“Oh, really? Did we? Because I don’t think  _ everyone’s _ opinion was-”

“Now you two aren’t helping!” Remus interrupted with a laugh before turning his grin back to Patton and Logan. “How would you two like to go hunting with us?”

The room fell silent.

Patton, lost for words, turned to Logan, and found him the same.

Janus sighed. _ “Not  _ how I would have phrased that,” he said, shooting a quick glare at Remus, “But… yes. You two have  _ chosen _ to remain here, thus meaning you are not prisoners. This you know, yes?”

“Yes, absolutely!” Patton confirmed, nodding. When Logan stayed silent, he hoped his answer worked well enough for the both of them.

“Good,” Janus said, though Patton didn’t miss how he glanced at Logan (and he assumed that Logan did not miss it, either). “Because of that, we thought we should give you the… opportunity to go outside the kingdom walls.”

“The vines?” Logan questioned.

“Precisely.” Janus leaned back in his chair. “Being… what we are, we have to hunt every couple of days.” One of them must have pulled a face, for he rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic, it’s animals.”

“Okay,” Patton said slowly. “Where do we come in?”

“It’s simple,” Janus said with a shrug. “You’re guests in our home, we’re doing our best to provide. But I hope you won’t be surprised when I say that our pantries aren’t as luxurious as they once were. Of course, we can find things in the forest, but don’t you think you deserve a say?”

“And this is where  _ I _ come in,” Remus said, leaning forward over the arm of the loveseat, “Because I know these woods better than anyone else here!”

“So Remus will be your… guide, per se,” Janus explained.

Logan arched an eyebrow. “You’re sending him out with us?”

“Logan!” Patton scolded.

“Patton, I’ll have you remember that he was preparing to attack me in these same woods!”

“Oh, but I’ve changed!” Remus said with an exaggerated pout.

Logan slid him a heavy glare.

“Don’t worry,” Roman piped up. “I’m going, too!”

“As a bodyguard?” Virgil, monotone, asked, raising an eyebrow.

Remus sighed dramatically. “And here I thought it was because you couldn’t have one without the other!”

“You know we can wait until tonight, right?” Virgil asked, looking to Janus. “The four of us can’t go together anyway, so why don’t they just-”

Janus gave Virgil a pointed look. “I already  _ told  _ you, Virgil. If they agree, they go out when the sun is up. I’m sure,  _ together, _ Roman and Remus are smart enough to work around the setting sun. And, of course, you _ could _ offer to go now, but if I’m remembering correctly, you don’t really  _ like _ going out when the sun is up!”

Adding to his brother’s words, Remus gave Virgil a smile. "We'll be just fine!"

Virgil, choosing to stay silent, instead glared at his older brothers and settled back into his chair, continuing his tilting back and forth.

Ever so slightly, Remus’s smile faltered.

“To get back on track,” Janus continued, calling Patton and Logan's attention back to him, “We are giving you two the opportunity to venture outside of these walls.” His gaze then hardened. “I would hope that, because we are showing you this trust, you would respect the  _ hospitality _ we are giving you and not… try anything.”

Without even having to say it, Patton understood the threat behind Janus’s words.

Still, though, it was trust. Whether an inch or a mile, Patton wouldn’t discredit that.

“I understand,” he said, quietly, before looking at Logan.  _ “We _ understand.”

“Are we... doing this?” Logan asked

“I- I think we should,” he said.

“And, for what it’s worth,” Roman interjected, “This isn’t some…  _ elaborate ruse  _ or anything.”

“It’d be a shitty ruse,” Remus added.

“And a stain on my- _ our _ reputation.” Roman flashed a smirk to the two of them.

Logan raised an eyebrow but, nonetheless, looked back to Patton and nodded. “Very well, then.”

Patton—deciding that it was better to shelve the discussion of whether or not Logan actually wanted to do this—turned back to Janus with a smile.

“So it’s decided,” Janus said. Then, looking to the twins, he raised an eyebrow. “And I expect you two to behave.”

“Always do,” the twins quipped, each with a grin, before shooting each other furtive looks.

Virgil covered a snort with a cough.

“Great,” Janus deadpanned. Then, to Patton and Logan, with a chilling smile, “I will see you when you return.”

Even as Patton was being led out of the castle by Roman and Remus, Logan closely shadowing him, he could still feel the weight of Janus’s unspoken threat on his shoulders.

“Well, isn’t this exciting!” Roman beamed over his shoulder as he led them down the spiral steps.

“Maybe we’ll even show you two the gory bits,” Remus added with a wink.

Roman’s grin dropped to a scowl as he looked forward, quickening his step. “Behave, Remus,” he sing-songed.

“I could say the same to you,” Remus mocked back, following his brother’s tone and inflection.

“Is this bickering between you two common?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Patton lightly smacked his arm. “Logan, be nice!”

Roman laughed as they reached the courtyard, turning with a clap of his hands to face Logan as he continued to walk backwards. “Don’t worry, Patton, I like the bluntness!”

“Are you going to answer his question?” Remus asked.

“Well, I’m _ getting _ to-”

“Because I can!” Remus, too, then turned to face the two of them.”And we all know what they say about twins!”

Patton bristled and, besides him, Logan tensed as well.

Of course they had. It was a legend that traversed the country, based off of the belief that, at one point, a set of twins were meant to be one person. Yet, becoming two, all the “good” was thought to be in the first-born, while all the “bad” was said to be in the second, following their eldest twin in hopes of squandering that good. Among the kingdoms, twins were meant to be a sign of a true struggle between good and evil, a test meant to prove which will come out victorious. 

Patton could recount the tales told to him as a child of twins fighting to their end, only one living to ever see a throne. 

“We’re meant to destroy each other,” Remus continued when no one else spoke up, his tone too glib and his smile too casual. “So, perhaps this bickering _ is  _ common!”

“We should keep going,” Roman mumbled, turning back around as they neared the barrier.

Patton had to admit, Logan’s curiosities on the barrier had rubbed off on him. If the brothers had to mutter an incantation, then perhaps the magic was in the wall all along? Or if there was a rune that had to be drawn, or a sigil? A pattern to be followed? It wasn’t like he was an expert at magic, but Logan basically was, and Patton liked to believe that he picked up enough secondary knowledge to-

His thoughts came to a standstill as, by the twins simply approaching the barrier, the vines unlaced and opened up a doorway.

“After you,” Roman said to the two of them, flourishing his hand to the opening with a smile.

“Th-Thank you!” Patton beamed, stepping through. As Logan followed, followed by Roman and Remus, he continued with, “It just… opens like that?”

“It did for you, didn’t it?” Roman asked.

“Well, yeah, but that… easily.” Patton laughed slightly. “I think that just leaves us with more questions, doesn’t it?”

“Oh,  _ absolutely,” _ Remus said, stepping up alongside Patton. “But we’re wasting daylight! And I don’t want to deal with Janus’s bitching if we get home too late!”

“He did seem rather… intense about that,” Logan said, following behind with Roman as Remus led them onward, Patton at his side. “Are there other creatures we need to be aware of? We had always  _ heard _ of dire wolves, but I can’t remember the last time one of them crossed into  _ our _ kingdom.”

“Oh, sure,” Remus said, waving his hand. “I mean,  _ our  _ wolves are long gone. But sure, they’re here somewhere.”

“And you’re not concerned?” Logan asked.

“They’re not really… an issue,” Roman interjected. “You know, large forest and all. And we’re… tough.”

Patton looked up at Remus. “Do you run into them?”

Remus’s lips quirked up in a smirk. “Only if I’m feeling peckish!”

“Oh.” Patton followed as he led the group off to the right.

“Did you expect something else?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe not.” 

Remus smirked. “Well, shit happens when you’re dealing with monsters.”

“You don’t have to generalize us, Remus,” Roman said from behind, which Remus answered with a scoff.

As Remus led them further into the forest, Patton could just barely catch glimpses of sunlight through the trees. It wasn't strong enough to reach the forest floor, but the twins still lurked closer to the bases of trees, where the shadows were thicker.

When Remus took a quick look back and forth before leading them to the left, Patton asked, “Do you like the forest?”

“My, you  _ do _ like to talk!”

Patton blushed and, as he tried to stumble out something, Remus laughed and continued, “But sure! Things get lost and never found in here, and I get to do whatever I please! It’s perfect!”

Patton frowned. “Lost and never found?”

“Remus,” Roman warned.

“Oh, Roman, so attentive,” he said. Patton caught his eye roll. “But, yes, don’t worry. Even _ I _ know Janus will kill us if he finds out the two of them ran off!”

“Why would we-” Patton then cut himself off at the sudden memory of citizens of the Hartt Kingdom venturing into the forest only to never return.

He told himself that the chill down his back was from the breeze.

Remus, catching his silence, shot him a smirk. “Don’t worry,” he repeated. “I’m currently being on my _ best _ behavior.”

“Your thinly veiled threats do you no good,” Logan said. 

Remus turned to him with a pout. “Are you going to hit me again?”

Logan, instead, rolled his eyes and ignored him.

After a couple more minutes of walking, distance being put between turned back to Remus. “Is that all you like? About the forest?”

“Is curiosity a Hartt virtue?”

Patton smiled and shrugged. 

Remus sighed, leading them off to the right. He was silent for a moment, finally saying, quietly, “Roman and I used to… play out here a lot. Closer to the castle, but...”

Patton snuck a glance at Roman. Paces behind, he was looking up at the canopy, shading his eyes with his hand. “Does he ever come with you now?”

Remus huffed out a laugh, and it was the tiredest Patton had heard him yet. “Does it look like it?”

“You could ask him.”

Remus grinned and Patton startled at the sudden malice behind it. “That’s a big ask, Pat,” he said. “A big ask to a situation you know nothing about.”

Patton stared up at him, and Remus stared back.

Remus was the first one to break eye-contact as he looked forward again. “Actually, I’m done with this conversation! And you should stay out of it.”

And he quickened his step.

Patton frowned but, nonetheless, let himself fall back in step with Logan and Roman as they came up from behind.

When a clearing bursting with the sunset’s orange glow came into view, though, Patton couldn’t help but stop entirely. It was too far off in the distance to make out the miniscule details but, squinting, Patton could see the early summer breeze gently shaking lush green leaves. In the midst of the dark tones of the forest, in shadow and foliage alike, the site ahead was… breathtaking.

“Wow,” Patton breathed out, barely even registering how Logan and Roman stopped alongside him.

“A naturally occurring orchard,” Logan noted, though even he seemed taken by the sight. “I… I didn’t expect to find anything like _ this _ out here.”

“Did you know this was out here?” Patton asked Roman, looking up at him.

Roman, wordless and gaping at the sight, shook his head.

The three stood still for one more moment before moving back into gear, following Remus as he pushed along ahead.

When Patton and Logan stepped out into the sunlight, Roman and Remus hung back by the edge of the clearing where the shadows still creeped in. Patton, his mouth ajar, looked around. Though scattered and disorganized, the trees were plentiful with fruit, some that they had within their own kingdom, some that they had import in from elsewhere. The sky above was a brilliant blue mixed with the orange that was beginning to seep in from the horizon and, just above the treeline at the opposing edge of the clearing, the sun was slowly, peacefully setting.

“Wow,” Patton repeated as, gently, the breeze blew his curls away from his face.

Logan nodded. “This is… remarkable.”

Behind them, just barely audible, Roman said, “You… you actually knew where stuff like- like  _ this  _ was.”

There was only a short pause before Remus responded, “Why would I lie?”

“I didn’t…” A sigh. “It’s… I haven’t seen the sunset in so long.”

“Well, now you are.”

Patton and Logan both looked over their shoulders as a branch snapped behind them and found Remus taking a couple steps closer, though still mindful of the sun creeping in on the edges.

“We’ll be back! Don’t stray!” He grinned. “You won’t be able to get very far.”

“We won’t!” Patton assured him with a grin of his own. 

Remus cocked his head. “How delightful!”

And, with that, he darted off into the depths of the forest once more, leaving Roman behind.

Roman watched only for a second before turning back with an exaggerated eye roll. “Don’t worry,” he said, though the shrug he gave seemed more… tired than anything. “Just…  _ do _ stay here.”

“We will,” Logan answered. “We wouldn’t be so foolish as to just go off in the woods by ourselves.”

Roman raised an eyebrow and stifled a laugh, looking between the two of them. “You sure about that?”

And he then darted off behind his brother.

Patton giggled at the blush dusting Logan’s cheeks. “We would  _ never  _ do something like that! How _ terrible  _ would that be!”

Logan cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.  _ “Now _ we would never. I believe that we have learned our lesson.”

Patton smiled as he walked further into the clearing with Logan at his side. “That if we go out in the woods alone… we can find nice people?”

“I-” Logan sighed as they approached a tree bearing some of the reddest apples Patton has ever seen. Logan, reaching up, plucked and examined one. “Perhaps.”

Patton frowned.

Logan did as well. “What?”

“You have been my mage advisor since I was  _ fifteen _ and this is the most… stuffy you’ve ever been!”

Logan’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. “Stuffy?”

“I- I know you’re staying because of me. And I appreciate that! So much! But-” He sighed, shrugging. “But when are you _ ever _ someone to hold back what you’re actually thinking?”

Logan frowned, plucking and examining another apple, comparing the two in his hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he murmured.

Patton pouted. Logan, finally looking up, tried to hold his passive look before letting the hint of a smile poke through.

“You know those pleading eyes don’t work on me, Patton.”

“Are you sure? I can be very persuasive.”

“And I can be quite resistive.”

“Come on, Lo!” Patton, laughing, swatted him lightly on the arm. “What is it?”

Logan sighed. “I just don’t think you’re going to be pleased!”

“I- I can handle it,” Patton said, trying to keep his tone casual.

The two eyed each other again.

“Alright,” Logan finally said, nodding. “You’re right. Our friendship is strong enough that silencing myself now would be fruitless.”

“Good one!”

“I-” Logan shot him a glare as he laughed “-What I mean to say, on this  _ very serious _ matter, is that… I trust  _ you.” _

Patton nodded. “I- I know, and I trust you, too!”

“No, I-” He sighed again “-What I mean is that I  _ only _ trust you. I know you have your beliefs about the… men we are currently residing with, and I will respect that, but I just feel the need to… stay on guard.”

Patton, frowning, bit his bottom lip and nodded. “I understand,” he said quietly.

And then he thought back to his and Virgil’s conversation.

“But what if,” Patton continued, “I could… plead their case?”

Logan raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

“And I think the best way to start with that is… if they wanted to hurt us, they could?”

Logan chuckled. “Is now a good time to mention Remus provoking me in the woods, or Janus charging you in the parlor?”

“And you’re here now, aren’t you?” Patton asked. “And Roman stepped in between me and Janus, didn’t he?”

Logan, tilting his head, thought for a moment before nodding. “Fair enough.”

“And- And Roman’s been very polite! Very charming! He even cooked for me!”

“Did he?”

“He did! And it was good!” And Patton, perhaps realizing that someone’s cooking skills weren’t exactly a character merit, continued with, “And he was welcoming. To both of us! Honestly, he didn’t even seem shocked that I was there! And he  _ completely _ saved us when you showed up!”

Logan nodded. “I will admit,  _ that _ I did not expect.”

“Exactly!” Patton beamed. “So- so that’s Roman, and- and then Remus!” When Logan frowned, Patton continued on with, “Now I know Remus can be a little spooky but- but has he actually done anything to us? For all the… threats—or maybe they’re jokes!—he hasn’t acted on anything!  _ And _ he led us here!”

“I don’t think the bar can be that low.”

“The bar can always get higher!”

“... Perhaps.”

“And then Janus!” Patton continued on. “Uh, he… okay, I’m still a _ little _ scared of him, but he can be reasoned with! And- and sure, he’s a little… suspicious, but even you said that it’s understandable for them to keep secrets!”

“But don’t you wonder what those secrets are?”

“Only… only sometimes…”

Logan eyed him, obviously seeing through him, and Patton grinned.

“And Virgil…” Patton, smiling, shrugged. “He’s been the one… helping me out.”

“Really?”

Patton nodded. “Yes, really! He showed me around and checked in on me and- and he’s been so nice, Logan! And…” He trailed off, letting his voice grow quieter, “He’s the one… pleading our case, too.”

Logan frowned. “How do you know that?”

“Because he talked to me about it.” Patton sighed. “After he found us at the wall… he came to my room. And he said that- that we need to leave all _ that _ stuff to them because, ever since we showed up, he’s been the one on our side reasoning with Janus that we don’t mean any harm.”

“But we _ don’t  _ mean any harm.”

“Exactly,” Patton said. “And Virgil knows that and trusts us.” He paused, biting his lip. “That distrust you have? It’s the same for Janus. And we… we both saw what happened when Janus thought I betrayed them. Roman stepped in then, probably saving our lives, and afterwards… Virgil stuck up for us. He has been this whole time.” He shrugged. “What you’re feeling is valid, Logan, but… I think it means something that these brothers haven’t done anything to use yet. I- I know what the legends say, about them and their kingdom, but can’t time change people? And, sure, things are scary! Even I will admit that! But… if they’re giving us the benefit of the doubt, shouldn’t we do the same?”

Logan watched him for a minute before huffing out a breath with a smile on his face. “You’ve… really thought about this, haven’t you?”

“I-” Patton’s voice quieted, “I just think… they’re good.”

“And your… hope in people is commendable.”

Patton blushed. “Thank you, Lo.”

Logan was silent for a moment as Patton plucked an apple. “Can I ask… why?”

Patton furrowed his eyebrows. “Why what?”

“Why do you feel so strongly about this? About them?”

Patton worried his bottom lip, letting himself focus too hard on the red apple in his hands, on the small bruise by its stem. “I… I just do,” he whispered. “There… there has to be good here.”

“Has to?”

Patton swallowed thickly. “Sometimes… sometimes there’s just gotta be good in places you don’t expect to find it.” He finally looked back up at Logan. “To… to counter the rest. And I really think we… found it.”

Logan studied him for a moment and, whether he understood what Patton meant or not, he knew to not press further. Instead, he nodded and turned back to the fruit tree. He plucked another apple and gently placed it into his pack.

“Speaking of the brothers,” Logan said when the mood lightened, “I find it interesting to see how their vampirism affects them all differently.”

Patton nodded. When he waited for an explanation that never came, he poked his head around the apple tree and smiled at Logan. “I know  _ the _ Logan Sanders, my advisor and smartest friend, isn’t holding back information.”

Logan, looking up at the setting sun through the branches, smiled. “Perish the thought,” he said. “I am more so just thinking of the… implications of that.”

Patton furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“Why would the spell affect them all differently?” Logan asked, perhaps wondering aloud. “If this really was a quest for power gone rogue, why would the spell… mutate them differently? Perhaps it could be hubris, but still… it makes me wonder what spell they tried to have casted.” He then sighed. “I apologize, I do not mean to make the brothers sound like… experiments I am trying to study, I just...”

“You’re curious,” Patton finished for him, smiling. Logan lightly blushed and nodded. “I am, too. It’s something I’ve noticed, but I’m guessing you, Mr. Magic, have more thoughts on it?”

Logan chuckled. “Is that my new name? Nevertheless… I have observations that I’m hoping will bring me to an answer. This is like no spell I have seen before.”

“It’s not even in your spellbook?”

Logan frowned, shaking his head. “Nothing even like it.”

“Well,” Patton said, “What are these observations?”

“Well, to start, Janus’s fangs are longer than his brothers’,” Logan began. “They’re more like the fangs of a viper than anything else. And then we have our kingdom’s fixation with his ruined eye, so that _ does _ make me wonder about what he’s concealing under his eyepatch but… it could be nothing, and, either way, it would be rather insensitive of me to ask.”

Patton thought of the scales he had caught sight of on Janus’s hands, and he stayed silent.

If Janus wished to keep them hidden under his gloves, Patton wouldn’t take that away.

“And then there’s Roman,” Logan continued, “Who seemingly has no physical afflictions other than his fangs, but… he’s the only one without a reflection?”

“Yeah,” Patton breathed. “Virgil told me not to say anything.”

Logan nodded. “Very well,” he said. “Remus, on the other hand… it goes without saying, but he’s the most bestial of the four. It’s obvious that he and Roman are identical, but I’ll admit, it’s challenging to see that past the rows of sharp teeth, the claws, those green eyes.”

Patton nodded. “Our legend didn’t prepare us for that,” he whispered.

“No, they did not,” Logan said, just as quiet. He then cleared his throat. “However,  _ Virgil  _ might as well be an exact representation of what our legend actually depicts. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought he was a corpse.”

Patton worried his bottom lip, thinking back to Virgil’s gaunt features. “He looks tired,” he said. “Stressed.”

Logan nodded. “And that… leads into the one theory that I have.”

Patton frowned. “How?”

“Well, take our legend. The eldest son was corrupted by his conniving bitterness, the second son by his pride, the du-... the _ third _ son by his greed, and the fourth son by bad omens and anxious isolation.” Logan huffed. “Of course, this is all merely theoretical, but… these princes are known for their vices or- or circumstances of birth. If there was a spell that capitalized on that… this might be the one.”

Patton stayed silent for a while, frowning up at the tree as he absentmindedly traced the bark with his fingers.

“Time can change people. They shouldn’t have to suffer,” he finally whispered. “It just doesn’t seem fair.”

“Few things are,” Logan responded, just as quiet. “But… but maybe the hope you have says just as much about them as it does about you.”

Patton, wide-eyed, looked back at Logan.

“Oh, good! You’re still here!” Both Patton and Logan jumped as Remus’s voice burst from the treeline. “Would hate to have to go on a second hunt.”

They both turned to find Roman and Remus standing back in the shadows of the forest.

“Take your time,” Roman said, flashing a grin. “We got a little bit more daylight left before Janus sounds the alarms.”

\--

It was when Janus and Virgil returned from hunting, the moon hanging high in the starry sky, that Logan finally looked up from his contemplation.

In the time they had waited, Patton and Logan made themselves comfortable in the sitting room while Roman and Remus flitted about before eventually joining them as well. Though Patton had perused the small library they had downstairs, and even considered venturing up to the castle’s main library to find something to put his mind to, he could not help but be distracted by Logan’s silence as he sat in the loveseat closest to the window. Absentmindedly looking out the window as he pondered, he paid no mind to Patton’s continual glances towards him.

Yet, when Janus sauntered into the sitting room, followed by Virgil, Logan finally looked up.

“It’s so quiet,” Janus commented, looking between the four of them as he leaned against the wall (and as Virgil slid into his typical seat at the desk). “Almost makes me think that something happened.”

“We’ve been on our best behavior!” Remus beamed and then, shielding his mouth from Roman, mock-whispered, “Even kept  _ Roman _ in line! You know how he gets!”

Roman scoffed. “Like anyone will believe that.”

Janus huffed and, ignoring them, turned to Patton and Logan. “We didn’t get to talk much before Virgil and I headed out,” he said. “Is it safe to assume that things didn’t go terribly?”

Patton smiled, nodding. “Everything went great! Remus and Roman were really helpful.”

Janus allowed himself a small smile. “Good to know.” Then, after a quick hesitation and a glance between him and Logan, he continued with, “And… thank you both for complying with us.”

“It was the least we could do,” Patton said, sharing a look with Logan. “You’ve all been so accommodating to us.”

Logan nodded. “Yes and, on the subject of that…” He sighed and stood, looking between the four brothers. “I would like to… apologize for my behavior when I first arrived here. Though I had cause to worry for my friend, I should not have acted so rashly. I have been taught my entire life to not use my magic so thoughtlessly and, forgetting my teachings, I caused all of you a great deal of stress that could have been avoided if I just-” He snuck a quick glance at Patton “-Allowed myself to listen and understand the situation first before acting. I… understand if you all still have apprehensions, I will not blame you for that, but I just wanted to say that… I’m sorry.”

Janus, who had been studying Logan the entire time, looked to Patton. “You have a good advisor.” Then, when he realized that his younger brothers were all staring at him, he scoffed. “I cannot speak for the four of us on _ everything. _ But-” And he looked back to Logan “-I will say that… I accept your apology. Though it was… unfortunate, I cannot _ entirely _ fault you for your actions. As long as this… civility remains, I see no problem.”

“Me too,” Virgil said, giving Patton a small smile. “You two are okay in my book.”

Patton smiled, too.

Whatever hand Virgil had in further swaying Janus, Patton was grateful for it.

“I don’t care.” Remus shrugged. “It’s fun to have some action around here.”

“Well _ I _ for one am happy for things to calm down around here,” Roman said, smiling. “All the intensity was getting exhausting.”

“And, Roman,” Logan said, looking to him. He hesitated only for a second before saying, “Thank you for de-escalating the situation. If you hadn’t stepped in… I think it’s safe to say that things would have turned for the worst. So… thank you.”

For just a moment, Roman looked almost shocked. And then the moment passed, and he donned his typical grin. “What can I say? I’m good with my words!”

Logan’s look lingered on Roman for just a second longer before he turned back to the rest of them. “There is, however… one more issue that needs to be addressed.”

Janus frowned. “And that is…?”

Logan sighed, adjusting his glasses. “It is something I have been thinking about for some time and, while I do not want to cause a panic, I think it would behoove all of us to note that-” And he looked to Patton “-The heir of the Hartt Kingdom and his Royal Mage Advisor disappeared within hours of each other.”

Patton’s stomach plummeted so quickly, he actually felt nauseous, and the silence that fell upon the room did nothing for his nerves.

He could barely get his voice louder than a whisper, “Does… does my father know?”

“I- I am not sure,” Logan answered. “Which is destressing, to say the least. He didn’t think that you would… bring yourself here. He was very adamant about it, actually, thinking that my worries about you coming here were... at best, paranoid and, at worst, insulting to the Hartt family.”

Patton swallowed thickly. With how carefully Logan was choosing his words, Patton could only imagine what his father actually said.

“And I don’t say this to upset you, Patton, or to stir up panic,” Logan assured, looking at everyone in the room. “But, while King Titus seemed very sure of himself that a Hartt would not find himself in the Twisted Wood, I cannot deny that I expressed my worries to him about that, nor can anyone deny that two fairly powerful people disappeared within a day.”

“So what are you saying?” Virgil asked, the worry evident in his own voice.

“That he might come looking,” Patton answered quietly, his eyes trained on Logan as his hands shook in his lap.

Logan sighed and nodded, shutting his eyes. “If history is right,” he said, “They won’t be able to get in.”

“They won’t,” Janus interjected quickly. Patton couldn’t tell if he was stating a fact, assuring his brothers, or calming his own nerves. 

Patton wondered if him being able to get through the wall passed through anyone else’s mind.

“This might not even happen,” Logan continued. “But… even if there is a slight possibility, I needed to say something. So that-” He glanced at Patton “-So that all of us would be prepared.”

“Well… what happens if it does?” Roman asked. “We haven’t had knights try to storm the wall in- in decades!”

Remus, shoulders just rigid enough to be noticeable, added,  _ “Especially _ not when they’re looking for a prince.”

“And- and we can’t let them know that we- that we have them!” Virgil’s voice was already loud with panic as he turned to Janus. “So what are we going to do when-”

Janus put a hand up and Virgil snapped his mouth shut. “Virgil,” he said, a sudden calmness to his voice,  _ “All _ of you, this will be a situation we will have to deal with when it comes to us. But…  _ none _ of them are getting through that wall.”

Where Roman and Remus relaxed back into their seats, Virgil didn’t seem to take his assurances as easily.

Janus looked back to Logan. “Thank you for… warning us of this.”

Logan nodded. “I- I do not mean to cause you all to worry.” He looked to Patton. “Are you… alright?”

Patton worried his bottom lip and looked up at his friend. “I didn’t even think about this,” he whispered.

He didn’t  _ want _ to have to think about this.

Janus released a deep breath. “Well, they won’t be able to get through,” he said, “So that’s the silver-lining. And, if they do show up… we’ll just have to deal with it then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading!!! as always, i appreciate everyone's love and kind words (and encouragement for my thesis!!!) so so SO much :') <3
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com !!


	8. chapter seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil finally looked back down at him. “Why do you like the rain?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was originally supposed to be longer but, story of my life, change of plans!! not only was i antsy to put out a chapter, but what you're about to read became a lot more narratively important than i originally planned and, considering the fact that what i have planned next is fairly dramatic (a little hint for you guys), i wanted to separate the two events!!! so, yes, this chapter is on the shorter side, but i really wanted it to stand on its own :)
> 
> ALSO this is something i should've been doing from the prologue, but i have to give a huuuuuuge thank you to my friend bee (@bumblebeekitten on tumblr)!! she has been beta-reading this fic for me from the start, and has been the one hearing out my ideas, helping me piece together the plot, and giving me ideas as well!!! this fic would literally not be what it is now without her and, for that, i must give her all my thanks and love <3
> 
> and now......... moxiety stans, come get ur slowburn juice

On Patton’s fifth morning in the Anguine Kingdom, it was raining.

It took a moment for him to realize it as he drowsily looked out the window in his room but, as he watched the rain drops drip from the canopy above and could just catch the sight of grey clouds through the gaps in the leaves, his heart surged.

He loved the rain.

Grabbing his cloak, he quietly made his way out of the guest corridor and through where the brothers rested. As he was walking down the stairs, he only faltered momentarily when he found Virgil already sitting on one of the cushioned benches in the parlor, his dark eyes trained on the rainy skies as well.

And then, Patton smiled and continued down the stairs.

“Morning, Virgil,” he said, his voice soft as he came up beside him.

Virgil, looking up at him, gave him a small smile. “Oh, hey Patton.”

Patton sat on the other end of the bench. “I didn’t expect to see you down here,” he said. “Thought you’d be sleeping.”

Virgil chuckled. “I could say the same to you.”

“I’m just an early riser!”

“And I barely sleep.”

“I can see that!” When Virgil gave a shrug, Patton giggled. “But are you enjoying the weather, too?”

“Oh-” Virgil looked back out the window “-Uh, just thinking, really.”

“About what?”

A hesitation. “Nothing important.”

As Virgil kept his eyes on the rain droplets tapping against the window, Patton took it as a sign to not push the subject.

So, instead, Patton looked out the window as well.

“I love the rain.” He put a finger to the window and followed a raindrop as it travelled downwards.

Virgil moved his gaze to Patton. “You do?”

“Always have.” He smiled. “Back home, I always liked to go outside when it rained. Well, more like sneak out because, you know, princely duties, but Logan always covered for me!”

Virgil laughed slightly. “Didn’t take him for the renegade type.”

“He has a little rebellion in him!” Patton laughed, too. “Just don’t tell him I told you.”

“Secret’s safe with me,” Virgil said with a smirk.

Patton beamed.

Virgil then cleared his throat, looking back out the window. “Do you want to? Go outside, I mean.”

“Oh! I- I was planning to, but if I can’t or-”

“You can if you want. You’re not trapped.” Virgil hesitated before adding, “I mean, if you’re uncomfortable or anything, I can go with you…”

Patton smiled. “I’m not uncomfortable,” he said, “But you can still join me. If you want.”

“Oh-” Virgil scratched the back of his neck “-Uh, yeah.”

“Great!” He then stood and offered his hand out to Virgil. “Shall we?”

Virgil eyed his hand. “You haven’t seen much of the capital city, right?”

Patton shook his head. “Other than the Wall? Not really.”

“Well-” Virgil took Patton’s hand and pulled himself up. The sudden flush to Patton’s cheeks distracted him enough from the coldness of Virgil’s hand. “-I can show you around. Won’t be as nice as it once was, but...”

“I don’t mind,” Patton said with a smile before remembering to take his hand away.

As Virgil opened the large castle doors, Patton relished in the cool morning breeze that blew in. The summer air was tempered by the gentle rain and Patton, equally calm, stepped out onto the stone steps.

“It’s beautiful out,” he said softly, looking out at the capital city down below before back at Virgil, who still lingered in the doorway. “Don’t you think?”

Virgil stared up at the canopy, still shrouding the kingdom in shadows but occasionally breaking through to grey clouds. “I guess.”

As Virgil stepped up beside him, Patton looked back out at the kingdom. “I think the trees are giving us some shelter,” he said. “You can hear how hard the rain’s hitting the leaves.” He breathed in deep. “It’s… calming.” 

Still, though, he gave an exaggerated frown as the raindrops blurred his glasses. Pushing them up on his head, holding back his curls from sticking to his forehead, he turned to Virgil and smiled. 

“You ready?”

Virgil’s eyes passed over his face before he sharply looked forward again. “Try not to trip,” he mumbled.

“I’ll do my best!” 

As Virgil led him down the spiralling steps (with Patton being extra careful to not slip on the stone), he said, “I don’t- I don’t have an actual tour or anything like that. If Roman was here, he’d probably have more to say. Might surprise you, but he was our, uh, socialite.”

Patton giggled. “Never would have guessed,” he joked. “But were you super busy? You know, back then?”

“Not really,” Virgil said, shrugging. “Just… didn’t go out a lot. Still know the kingdom, though.”

Patton nodded. “I don’t need a tour anyway,” he said. “I’m just happy out here!”

Virgil chuckled. “I can tell.”

When they reached the courtyard, Patton pointed down one of the side paths to the right that lead to the Vine Wall. “I’ve been there, and that’s about it!”

“Then let’s try to make things interesting,” Virgil said, and led Patton to the left.

The main thing Patton noted about the kingdom was that it was quiet. Always quiet, and always still. It was a small kingdom already—mainly consisting of a large capital city—and, after all this time, it seemed more like the brothers had come second to the foliage. Ivy clawed up the walls of the dilapidated buildings, and those closer to the Wall had been taken over by the vines as well. Most of the paths and stonework had become overcome by roots and weeds, and Patton had to watch his footing to make sure his feet didn’t snag.

“What was it like?” He asked after a couple minutes of walking. “Growing up in the middle of the forest.”

“Quiet. Isolated,” Virgil answered. “The Anguine Kingdom has been here for almost three centuries, but-” and he vaguely gestured to the city around them “-we don’t really have a lot to work with. I guess we could’ve tried to make villages farther out but, I don’t know, we did just fine with our capital city. For the most part.”

Patton worried his bottom lip, nodding. Before the climactic battle and the fall of the Anguine Kingdom, they had been a source of trade and commerce for the Hartt Kingdom. Even for a smaller kingdom, almost miniscule compared to the Hartt capital and all its attached villages, the Anguine Kingdom was once pivotal.

And then things changed, and the Hartt Kingdom adapted.

Patton kept his mouth shut about that, though.

“Did you like living out here?”

Virgil shrugged. “It was fine,” he said. “Again, didn’t really go out much.”

Patton nodded. He hesitated before saying, “Can I ask why?”

The Hartt legend said that the fourth son—that  _ Virgil _ —hid away inside the castle because of the prophecy surrounding his birth, that the Queen’s death and the darkness that followed were only omens for worse things to come.

Patton found himself wanting to know Virgil’s side of it.

“It was just better for everyone if I… stayed away.” Virgil looked down, his steps slowing to a halt. “I’m not really… good company to have.”

Patton stopped in front of him. “I think you’re doing just fine.”

Virgil huffed out a dry laugh. “What about your legends? What do they think?”

Patton frowned. “That’s the past.”

“Is it?” Virgil arched an eyebrow. “You don’t know me like everyone else did.”

He took a step closer. “Well, what if I want to know who you are now?”

“There’s no difference,” Virgil said, crossing his arms.

“But… I think there _ is,” _ Patton pushed, his tone gentle. “I can’t… change things, what you think or- or what the past says but… I know what’s in front of me.” A pause. “I know you’re not as bad as you think.”

Virgil scoffed, sharply looking away. “Figured all that out so quickly, huh?”

Patton bristled. “I’m just telling you what _ I _ see!”

“Well  _ I _ don’t see it!” Virgil, exasperated, dragged a hand through his hair. “Don’t think I don’t appreciate you trying but- but this has been my life for a hundred years! I…” He trailed off, shaking his head. His dark bangs clung to his forehead and, once again, he shoved them out of the way. “I’m sorry, it’s just…”

Patton bit his bottom lip. “Just what?”

A hesitation.

“I want to believe you,” Virgil finally said, quiet. “That there’s something-” He gestured to himself “-Here but… people get hurt when they’re around me, and that’s a pretty fucking hard thing to just forget about. If you stick around, and something happens...”

Patton frowned, tugging at the edges of his cloak. “But can we just make decisions on… what-if’s?”

“Patton,” Virgil warned, “You don’t know what you’re getting into.”

“What if I want to?”

The air in between them was suddenly still.

Whatever Patton was getting into, the way his heart hammered against his chest made it feel like he was falling.

Virgil’s voice was low as he asked, “You don’t give up easily, do you?”

“Sorry,” Patton whispered.

“Don’t be.”

Patton’s eyes widened as Virgil looked up at the sky, shutting his eyes as the rain dripped onto his forehead. 

For a moment, the silence between them felt like it would last an eternity.

“I hated the rain when I was a kid,” Virgil finally said. “My mother died the day I was born, and it stormed so badly for the next month that everything—farming, trade, commerce—plummeted.” He paused, his hands clenching. “A bad omen, you know? Cursed, even. And, after, it’s not like things were suddenly fine. I can’t just… ignore the signs.” 

“You said you used to hate the rain,” Patton said quietly. “What changed?”

Virgil shrugged. “I grew up, maybe. Got used to it.”

Patton’s heart cinched.

Virgil finally looked back down at him. “Why do you like the rain?”

“Virgil, if you’re uncomfortable or- or sad, we don’t have to talk about this...”

“No,” Virgil said, shaking his head. “I- I want to know.”

Patton studied him for a moment longer. “Well,” he began, and couldn’t help but smile, “Because our gardens always looked best after the rain. Because it was the best time to try and catch frogs out by the pond. Because we had this  _ huge _ weeping willow tree that was just so peaceful to sit under. It always felt like the world just paused. The rain makes it easy to… breathe, and just be. I think the rain refreshes us… takes the weight off the world’s shoulders for a little while.”

Virgil stared at him for a long time.

And then, finally, his lips turned up into a small smile.

“Not what I expected,” he said.

Patton laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “I just really love the rain.”

“It’s… different.”

His smile fell. “Is that bad?”

Virgil quickly shook his head. “I- No, it isn’t. I… I like it. It’s new.”

“Well,” Patton said, his smile returning, “New can be fun. Good.”

Virgil nodded, glancing away before meeting Patton’s eyes again. “I guess I’ll try to take your word on it.”

When the pair were finally walking back to the castle, the rain starting to come down a little harder, Patton instinctively gasped as his foot snagged a root and, even with his glasses on top of his head, he could see that the forest floor was coming in fast, and-

And Virgil immediately caught him on the forearm, his grip cold yet secure.

“Thanks,” Patton said, blushing as he looked up at Virgil.

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Told you to be careful.”

He grinned. “Well, it’s good that you were here, then!”

Virgil faintly smiled, too, as Patton righted himself, before both continuing on their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!! feedback, as always, is greatly appreciated <3
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	9. chapter eight (the youngest son)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, a fourth son was born, and that was only the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> goD i've been so excited for this chapter but!! if you follow me on tumblr!! you've probably picked up on the fact that writing this was A Lot. bc i had to write it in like less than three days. bc i wrote 80% of a different chapter, thinking it was going to be This chapter, and then had the realization that virgil's flashback chapter has to be now!!! so i had to flip the order of two chapters and Oh Boy i really didn't think i was gonna get this done
> 
> but we're here now!!! and i hope you enjoy :D
> 
> (also sorry this took so long, i needed to take a little mental break and also i binge watched all of avatar the last airbender and legend of korra)
> 
> TWs: anxiety/panic attacks, angst with a side of angst, this chapter could've been titled "a series of unfortunate coincidences"

Once upon a time, a new life came into the world at the cost of a grave sacrifice, and the sky opened up to cry for the life it had lost. The earth mourned for the gentle footsteps of a pure soul, and thus the ground was uprooted. Castle walls longed for the quiet song that would trail through their halls in the morning, and thus the windows darkened. 

And, most of all, this youngest son was looked at with adoring fear, for how could a life so precious come at such a high price? 

How could a blessed capital city be cursed with such a bad omen?

So it was foretold and so it remained, destruction came with Prince Virgil Anguine, fourth son to King Livius and the late Queen Aurelia Anguine, and thus it would end with him.

But to keep a bad omen contained, especially one as guarded and revered as a prince, one must approach each situation with caution, attuned to every spike of anxiety and bad feeling that crossed the little prince’s mind, and be ready to act accordingly.

Once upon a time, a fourth son was born, and that was only the beginning.

\--

Virgil was five, and it was raining very hard. So hard that, when he placed his hand to his window, the glass was chilled to the touch. So hard that, even when he squinted, all the shapes down below were blurry.

So hard that, when it thundered and the entire castle shook, it felt like the world was ending, and Virgil couldn’t help but let out a yelp as he fell back onto his hands, his rug soft to the touch but not enough to still the shaking that coursed through his body.

Once upon a time, Virgil came into the world at the cost of a grave sacrifice, and the sky opened up to cry for the life it had lost.

And, as the sky cried right before his very eyes, sobbing from the heavens, Virgil wondered who would be lost next.

And then he winced at the twisting in his stomach.

As he clenched and unclenched his fists, staring down at the rug, he tried to remember where everyone else was, even tried to imagine them and what they were doing. He had to imagine good things. If he imagined good things, then the rain would go away and good things could happen. 

He couldn’t imagine bad things. It would only rain even harder, and Virgil didn’t want the sky to cry any more. He didn’t want more people to be hurt.

So, he thought about his dad, and how he was in a meeting. It was probably boring, Janus never seemed to think they were any fun when he was allowed to go to them, but his dad was doing good things. His dad was keeping the kingdom safe, because that was his job. He kept the bad things from happening so that the people of their home would only think of good things.

And he thought about Remus and Roman. If he listened hard enough, he could hear the two of them laughing down the hall. They were probably playing with their wooden swords, or maybe they were playing pretend. When Roman and Remus played pretend, there was always a happy ending. The good people always won.

And he thought about Janus.

Janus, who was outside. Janus, who told Virgil that _he_ would go to the library for him because he knew Virgil really wanted a new book but was too scared that it was going to rain (and it did). Janus, who was still outside, even though the library wasn’t far. Even Virgil was allowed to walk to the library when he went outside. But Janus was still gone, and Janus went outside for Virgil, and it was raining outside and no one knew what could be happening to Janus because no word has been sent back and Janus could be in trouble or hurt or-

Virgil screamed as a clap of thunder boomed through the room, as sheets of rain threw themselves into his window. He scrambled to his feet, his eyes burning, almost tripping as he sprinted out of his bedroom and skidded into the hallway.

Another flash of lightning struck and, for just a moment, Virgil couldn’t see anything but the blinding light.

And, when his eyes finally cleared, he was crouched on the ground—his knees burning with rug burn from where he fell—and his hands were shoved over his ears and gripping into his hair.

Another flash and, for just a moment, it felt like the castle was collapsing.

Virgil squeezed his eyes shut tight and waited.

And screamed when hands suddenly gripped his arms.

“No! Stop!” He clamored back on his hands, slipping onto his elbows and, when he looked up, Remus and Roman, wearing the same scared looks, stared down at him.

Roman, who had his hands outstretched, watched as Remus crouched in front of him.

“Vi?” Remus asked quietly. “What’s wrong?”

Virgil shook his head, scrubbing at the tears on his face. His bottom lip trembling, he whispered, “I- I- I need Janus.”

Roman knelt down next to Remus. “He’s at the liber- the li _brary_.”

And he kept shaking his head, his face twisting. “N-No! He needs- he needs to be _here!”_

“Why?” Remus asked, crawling a little closer to him. “Are you okay?”

Virgil sucked in a shaking breath that hurt his chest, and reached out to him.

When Remus pulled him into a tight hug, Roman crawled closer, too. “You’re okay, Virgil,” he whispered. “Janus will be home soon! And then we can all play.”

Virgil let out a sob into Remus’s chest and shook his head. “I’m scared,” he managed. “I feel bad.”

“Why are you scared?” Remus asked.

“Is it the rain?” Roman added.

He tensed, hugging Remus tighter. “What if Janus is- is in trouble?”

Remus leaned away from him, frowning. “If Janus is in-”

When another crack of thunder sounded through the castle, Virgil was already on his feet, stumbling over himself to get down the stairs. If he could just look out the window, if he could just _try_ to see Janus-

“Virgil, wait!” Remus called after him, his fast falling footsteps only made louder by Roman’s.

Virgil, his heart in his throat, couldn’t find his words.

“What’s wrong with Janus?” Roman was saying, and Virgil couldn’t tell if it was just a question or a confirmation.

He didn’t _want_ to know, and he didn’t _want_ anything to be wrong with Janus, but he _needed_ to know. He felt wrong, he felt bad, and maybe that meant that-

When he finally skidded into the parlor, he clamored to the windows. Climbing up on the benches, his hands were shaking as he pressed them to the window, as he tried to see through the unceasing storm.

“Virgil!” Roman whispered. “Dad’s in a meeting! We can’t play down here!”

“I’m not playing” He knew that he was being too loud, that he was _supposed_ to be very quiet, but- “I want to find him!”

“Janus is okay!” Remus assured, holding his hands out to Virgil. “I promise! We can-”

“No!” Virgil shouted, sharply turning back to the window. “Don’t lie! We- we have to find him! We-”

Virgil was cut off as a large door was shoved open from down the hall, and he watched as Remus and Roman turned identical wide-eyed looks towards the sounds of footsteps stomping their way towards them.

Virgil, already trembling from the fear of what was happening _outside_ , clenched his fists tightly and tugged them to his chest.

Royal Mage Advisor Cyrus was the one to poke his head around the corner, and his eyes widened on the three brothers.

 _“What_ are you three doing?” He asked, tone firm, as he crossed his arms. “Your father is in a _very_ important meeting right now, and he cannot afford to be-”

“Where’s Janus?” Virgil shouted.

Cyrus gaped at Virgil, shocked by his sudden outburst. “He- Prince Janus has gone to the city’s library with one of the servants. For a book _you_ requested, yes?”

When Virgil’s bottom lip trembled, Cyrus looked even more taken back, and Remus quickly jumped in with, “Virgil’s scared!”

“Scared?” Cyrus questioned, furrowing his eyebrows. “Why- why are you scared?”

Virgil tugged at the sleeves of his shirt, balling and releasing them in his hands over and over again. He took a deep breath but winced as it got caught in his throat.

“Well?” Cyrus pressed, now shooting a panicked look back down the hall. “Come now, Prince Virgil, out with it! Why are you-”

And then, Royal Mage Advisor Cyrus cut himself off as, from out behind him, their father stepped into the parlor.

“King Livius-” Cyrus turned to their father with a forced smile “-Ah, apologies for the interruption! It seems your sons are just- just-”

“Boys,” their father said, looking between the three of them, “Is something the matter?”

“Virgil’s scared!” Roman rushed out.

“And can’t find Janus!” Remus added.

When his father’s eyes finally looked to Virgil, Virgil bit his bottom lip and stared up at him. “I- I feel bad.”

His father’s eyebrows furrowed. “Bad?”

Virgil nodded, twisting his hands.

Their father and Cyrus shared a look before, turning back to him, his father continued with, “Is it something bad with Janus?”

Virgil’s eyes blurred with sudden tears and his breathing hitched as he nodded.

“Okay,” their father simply said. Nodding, he quickly turned to Cryus, whispering something to him. Virgil nervously watched as Cyrus nodded and then retreated back down the hall.

He clamped his hands in front of his mouth, his breath shaking in his lungs, and Remus rushed to his side, quickly followed by Roman.

Remus reached his hands up to Virgil. “It’s okay, Virgil,” he said softly as he helped Virgil down from the bench. “We’re gonna find him!”

Virgil clutched his brother’s hands, his eyes darting between both twins. “But- But-!”

“Virgil.”

Virgil snapped his mouth shut and looked up, finding his father’s dark eyes staring back down at him. His expression, calmly blank despite the chaos around him, remained that way as he kneeled down in front of Virgil and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you for warning us.”

And then, a small smile.

Virgil, unable to hold himself back, dove into his father’s arms. Wrapping his arms tightly around his father’s neck, he released a shaking breath and, after a hesitation, his father wrapped an arm around him.

“I- I don’t want anything bad to happen to- to-”

All heads then whipped to the front double-doors as they blew open and, with the rain, Janus came running in, followed closely by one of the castle’s workers. Both soaked to the bone with their cloaks pulled high up over their heads, they looked up only to find shocked looks on everyone’s faces.

And then, without hesitation, Virgil threw himself into Janus, squeezing tightly around his waist.

“You’re home!” Virgil cried, looking up at Janus as, behind them, the worker profusely apologized to their father. “I- I’m sorry, Jan! I- and you- I was-”

Janus, staring down at Virgil with brown eyes full of confusion, hesitantly hugged him back. “I’m… home?” he said slowly, and then looked up from Virgil to the twins. “What’s… going on?”

“You were gone for a really long time!” Roman exclaimed, running up to Janus’s side.

Remus, running to the other, added, “And- And Virgil was scared that something happened!”

Janus frowned and accepted the dry cloak handed to him, exchanging it for the wet. “Oh.”

“But-” And all the brothers turned to look at their father as he stepped up to his sons “-I am glad to see that you’re alright, Janus. We were about to send out a search party.” Then, for just a moment, his eyes flicked to Virgil. “Better to be safe than sorry, yes?”

“Oh,” Janus repeated, still seemingly in shock by the sudden attention. He then cleared his throat, nodding. “But- uh, yes, I think.” He cautiously looked between the rest of his family. “Thank you… for the concern.”

When the adrenalin of the situation began to fade, their father returned to his meeting, and the twins ran back upstairs, already laughing again about the game they were playing. 

Virgil, staying right next to Janus, tightly held his hand as he tried to calm his breathing.

“Virgil,” Janus said quietly, walking forward and taking Virgil with him. “I’m okay.”

“I- I was so scared!” He sniffed, rubbing at his eyes with his free hand.

“I know, I know.” Janus nodded and pulled Virgil closer to him. “But it was just a little rain. We tried to wait out the storm but… I guess I knew you would worry.”

Virgil frowned, looking down. “I was scared,” he repeated, his voice barely over a whisper. “I felt bad.”

“I know,” Janus said again and, stopping before the staircase, he turned to Virgil and kneeled down before him. “But… don’t believe what people say about you, okay? All that-” His eyes then quickly darted around and, with a smirk, he whispered, _“Crap_ about you being-... scared.”

Virgil giggled at the curse word but, still, his smile fell. “But- but everyone says-”

“I know what everyone says,” Janus interrupted. “But… Vi, you’re not bad or scary or- or anything! You’re my _brother,_ and I love you, okay? You’re _very_ good.”

Virgil pouted and looked down, scuffing his foot against the floor.

“Hey-” And Virgil looked back up at Janus to find him holding out his pinkie, a small smile on his face “-Would I lie to you?”

Virgil, smiling, shook his head and locked pinkies with Janus.

“There you go! And, here-” Janus, grinning, then reached into his bag and took out a small book, handing it to Virgil “-The last copy they had. Sorry it’s a little wet.”

Virgil beamed and took the book, hugging it to his chest. “Thank you, Jan!”

“Don’t mention it.” Janus ruffled Virgil’s hair and Virgil, giggling, smacked his hand away. “Come on, do you want to go play? We can see what the twins are doing.”

And Virgil, grinning, ran up the stairs after Janus.

And, in three days, when Janus would wake up delirious with a fever and heavy cough, barely strong enough to move from his bed, Virgil would wonder why he lied.

\--

Virgil was fourteen, and he wished the thunder didn’t scare him as much as it did.

Or maybe, if he really thought about it, it wasn’t the thunder. It was the gnawing tension in his chest, the flutter in his stomach. It was the way his hands shook, even when he pressed them together or balled them into fists. It was the way his breathing shuddered painfully in his lungs, the way his eyes never stopped burning, the way he felt like he was dying.

And, most of all, it was the way he felt like he was just waiting for something bad to happen. For the sky to start falling, for the world to come down, for something to get into the castle.

It was the waiting, the painful waiting, that hurt the most.

Virgil, with his back pressed up against his door, curled himself tighter as another crack of thunder rattled his room. He pressed his forehead to his knees, hoping that the pressure would silence the ringing in his ears and, when it persisted, he hugged his legs tighter to his chest.

And couldn't help but let out a whimper at the quiet knocking on the door behind him. When he stayed silent, unable to find the words in his throat, he heard a voice whisper from the other side, "Virgil?"

Virgil froze. He waited to hear if Remus would say anything else and, when he didn't, Virgil clumsily scrambled away from his door and, with a shaking hand, pulled it open.

Remus, first looking straight ahead, looked down at Virgil, kneeling on the ground with a trembling lip, and frowned. Not saying anything, he stepped in and quietly shut the door behind him.

Then, kneeling down in front of Virgil, he held out his hands.

Virgil, without hesitation, took them and held on tightly.

"You're scared." Remus's voice held no question. It was matter of fact, a statement. Common knowledge, even: Virgil's anxiety was at its peak when it rained.

So, he nodded and ducked his head against his chest as the tears finally began to flow.

"I am right here," Remus continued, and Virgil held on tighter. "Roman is sleeping. So is Janus, and dad. We're all here, and we're all okay."

Virgil shook his head, sucking in a sharp breath.

"I'm telling you, V," Remus assured. "We're okay."

"We don't know that," Virgil choked out. "Any- anything can happen!"

"But we're here now. In your room," Remus said. "Everything is safe here."

Virgil pulled his hands back, rubbing at his eyes. "You don't understand."

"Maybe." Remus shrugged. "But I know what it feels like to be treated like you're bad. Dangerous. A curse."

Virgil winced.

After all, everyone knew what they said about twins.

"Some people think I'm meant to hurt Roman," Remus continued. "That I'm _going_ to. I… I don't want to."

Virgil stared at Remus, and so badly wanted to believe him.

But it would be impossible to ignore the shifting dynamics between the twins.

Maybe Remus saw that doubt in Virgil's eyes, because he sighed and said, "We fight but… we're brothers. Family. We will always have each other's back."

"Why are you telling me this?" Virgil whispered.

In the darkness, Remus gave a small smile. "Because we're _your_ brothers. _Your_ family. None of us believe you're a- a bad omen."

Virgil frowned. "Not believing doesn't mean untrue."

" _I_ don't think you're bad."

Virgil's mouth suddenly twisted and he bit out, "Is that supposed to make me feel better? We've been dealt the shittiest cards, so I'm just supposed to take your word?"

Remus frowned and Virgil, feeling his heart plummet to greater depths, couldn't help but choke out a sob as he ducked his head back down.

"I- I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, Virgil," Remus reassured. "I can take it."

"I just-" Virgil shook his head "-I don't want to hurt any of you!"

"And you're not!" Virgil looked up at Remus to find an intense look in his eyes. "Virgil, you're our _family_. We all love you! We know you're not gonna hurt us."

Virgil's bottom lip quivered as he clenched his fists.

"And family sticks together," Remus continued, smiling. "And you're not harmful or- or a bad omen.” When Virgil sighed and looked down again, Remus poked his knee. “Take it from me, you're not the bad guy the legends say you are."

And then, within the week, when Remus would make Roman cry, Virgil would wonder how much he really meant what he said.

\--

Virgil was twenty-three, and he wasn’t sleeping.

He hadn’t slept in a long time, or maybe that was just the exhaustion talking.

Or the bad, twisting, nauseating feeling in his gut.

That feeling never left, though. It was a constant; it was ever-churning.

It was ever-foreboding. Ever warning. Forever, and ever, and ever.

Virgil couldn’t remember the last time he knew peace.

He chalked it up to the exhaustion.

After all, he barely slept anymore. At least, not for the past couple nights. _Especially_ not the past couple nights. He couldn’t help but feel… off. Terribly off. More off than usual. And, when he felt off (felt anxious, felt on-edge, felt _bad),_ he couldn’t sleep.

He chalked it up to the fact that, early this morning, their father and Janus left in a carriage for the Hartt Kingdom.

He had been awake when they had left, able to watch their carriage grow smaller and smaller from his window, and he was still awake when they returned.

Both their departure and return had been met with little ceremony, even with Janus’s coronation being the next evening.

Virgil wasn’t surprised. Janus hadn’t been in a celebrating mood for a long while now. Thinking back, it was hard to remember when Janus wasn’t toeing the line between tearing his hair out and alarming indifference.

And Roman was preoccupied. He always was, now. Always looking for something better. Or something that would make him _feel_ better, but Virgil was always too anxious to mention it. Roman wasn’t… Roman when he was angry.

And Remus… Virgil liked to think that Remus was still in his corner. But ever since the blow-out… Remus has been different, and has been for years. He wasn’t around as much and, when he was, it was like all he wanted to do was dig himself deeper and deeper under people’s skin.

Virgil’s skin crawled.

He chalked it up to the exhaustion.

A door opened and slammed and, from the direction, Virgil could tell that it was Roman’s. Quick footsteps hurried away. 

A couple moments passed. Another door opened and slammed. More footsteps shuffling away.

He heard Roman’s voice, his words muffled. Just barely, he could hear Janus calling up to him.

And then he could hear Roman and Janus arguing. And, eventually, Roman’s door opened and slammed shut once again.

Virgil, after another couple moments, finally pushed himself up from where he had been laying in his bed.

The clock chimed that it was two o’clock in the afternoon.

He dragged his feet on the way to the door, his body seemingly growing heavier and heavier with each step. 

He poked his head out. 

Nothing.

He carefully, quietly, stepped out and, rounding the corner towards the staircase, he caught Janus on his way up.

“Janus.”

Janus jumped and whipped his head towards Virgil.

“Oh, Virgil,” Janus said, relaxing his posture as best he could. “Hello.”

“You and Roman were fighting.”

Janus deflated. “Is it ever any different?”

“No.”

The two were silent.

Virgil wondered when things became so off-balance.

“I have a bad feeling about today.”

Janus sighed, shaking his head. “Virgil, I… I can’t right now.”

“There’s nothing you _can_ do,” Virgil pressed. “I have a bad feeling about today.”

Janus’s eye twitched, almost as if Virgil had struck a nerve.

His stomach twisted.

“Virgil, it’ll be _fine,”_ Janus finally said, his words short and tone clipped. “We know what we’re doing.”

Virgil nodded.

He didn’t believe Janus, but the look in his eyes warned Virgil to stay away.

So, instead, he waited.

And, that night, the world truly did burn.

\--

Virgil had become so used to a heart that pounded quick and fast against his ribcage, that to have one that didn’t beat at all was almost _more_ unsettling.

But everything was unsettling now.

That happened when you were dead. Undead. The living dead.

Virgil, every time he passed by a mirror, thought he looked like a corpse.

Really though, he didn’t know _what_ to think anymore. 

Perhaps that happened when you had a hopeless eternity in front of you.

Whatever hope Virgil had in Remus helping him keep normalcy (whatever normalcy even was, anymore) was thrown out the window when he waltzed back into the castle, his jagged teeth bloodied in a savage grin. It made Virgil want to vomit, or cry, or bang his fists against Remus’s chest and beg for his brother back.

He couldn’t, so he just looked away.

Roman hasn’t come out of his room for three days now. Said that he couldn’t be seen anymore, not like _that._

If it wasn’t for the occasional shuffling behind Roman’s door, Virgil would’ve forgotten he was in there.

And Janus… Janus put a patch over his injured eye, gloved his hands, and steeled himself. Locked himself up like the lock he put on the throne room doors. Walled himself off just like their fallen kingdom.

Virgil felt like he watched the rise and fall of a king that never got his crown.

In the dining room, the clock ticked.

It was the only reminder that time was passing, and would continue to.

And, as Virgil looked out the window at the wall of thorn and vine that had grown around the kingdom, he knew that no one would ever pass through it. Would never be _able_ to pass through it.

It was just the four of them. 

Forever.

At another time, Virgil would have had a bad feeling about this.

But, as he just stared out the window, he let himself settle into a numbness that he had never known before.

And he watched as it began to rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!!!
> 
> after this evening, i am going to be without wifi and cell service until friday evening, but i hope to be posting a new chapter within a week or two (especially since it's 80% done)!!!!!
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	10. chapter nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was on Patton’s tenth evening in the castle—an evening where he could just see the pink-orange sunset through the drooping canopy of the trees—that Roman and Remus, after only fifteen minutes of being out hunting, threw open the large castle doors and came sprinting in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can i just say, the reactions to virgil's flashback were some of my favorite things ever
> 
> it's even more fun when u take into account that virgil's flashback is the tamest one i have planned :3
> 
> TWs: shitty parents, crying, panicking, angst with a side of angst (part 2)

It was on Patton’s tenth evening in the castle—an evening where he could just see the pink-orange sunset through the drooping canopy of the trees—that Roman and Remus, after only fifteen minutes of being out hunting, threw open the large castle doors and came sprinting in.

Patton and Logan, who had been coming down the main staircase, startled as Janus, who had been making his way into the parlor from the hallway, raised an eyebrow. “What? Are  _ ferocious beasts  _ tailing you?”

The cacophonous stream of jumbled words that came out of the twins’ mouths were near indecipherable, though the tension in the room thickened as, without a doubt, it was obvious that the twins were panicking.

Janus threw a gloved hand up. “Slow down!” he exclaimed, bounding towards his brothers. “Start over! What’s going on?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Patton caught a flicker in the candlelight and, looking over his shoulder, saw Virgil watching the scene, just as confused and on-edge as the rest of them.

“People!” Remus shouted, pointing towards the forest. “Coming this way!”

“Knights!” Roman added, his panicked brown eyes darting back and forth between Janus and Remus. “Hartt Knights!”

Patton’s stomach dropped so quickly, he thought he would vomit.

He imagined that the brothers felt worse.

Janus faltered, taking a step back, and, for the first time since Patton has been in the castle, he thought Janus actually looked scared. “Did they see you two? Were you attacked?”

The twins shook their heads. “We got away before they could see us,” Remus said.

“But we heard them coming,” Roman rushed out.

Behind him, Patton heard footsteps clumsily dart away and, when he turned, Virgil was gone.

When he looked back, Janus was nervously pulling at his gloves. “Well- well, they can’t get in-”

“Janus, what do we do?” Roman asked quickly.

“They have to know we have them!” Remus added, his green eyes shooting to Patton and Logan.

“And who _ knows _ what they have after a hundred years!”

“Or what they could do to us if they know!”

“Calm down!” Janus exclaimed. “It’s- it’s going to be fine!”

Patton could barely make out Roman’s _ “How do you know?!”  _ and Remus’s  _ “How can you be so sure?!” _ over each other.

“Because I do!” Janus threw his hands up. “This is just like before, okay? They couldn’t get through the wall then, and they won’t now!” He then released a deep breath, tugging on his gloves again. “It’s going to be… fine.”

“So then what do we do?” Roman asked quietly, tugging on his sash.

A moment of silence passed, with all eyes on Janus.

“We’re staying in here,” Janus ordered, firm, as he looked around at those who remained in the parlor. “We  _ don’t _ know what they know and-” His eyes caught Patton’s “-And we have to trust that no one actually knows they’re here!”

“What are you saying?” Remus, raising an eyebrow, pulled at his sleeves.

“We hide.” Janus swallowed thickly. “And wait. They can’t get in. We just have to wait them out.”

Patton and Logan shared a look.

“Do you think they would know?” Logan asked quietly. 

“I don’t know,” Patton whispered.

“I think it would be best if we retire to our quarters.”

“I…” Patton trailed off as he looked back down at the three brothers, Janus quietly talking to the panicked twins. “I’ll be there soon.”

Logan furrowed his eyebrows. “Patton-”

“I just-” He bit his bottom lip “-I have to talk to Janus.”

Logan slowly nodded, though his apprehensive look lingered.

Patton forced a smile, though Logan probably saw right through it. “It’s okay. I just… need to talk to him.”

“Okay,” Logan said quietly as he nodded again. “Okay.”

As Logan finally headed back up the stairs, Patton allowed his feet to carry him down, catching the last bit of what Janus was saying to the twins as he locked up the main doors:

“-check on Virgil. But stay quiet, and hidden! Keep your rooms dark and- and not a lot of moving and- just... be smart, okay?”

“We’ll be safe, Jan,” Remus said softly before he and Roman rushed past Patton up the stairs, flicking off all oil lamps as they passed.

And then, Janus’s eye caught Patton’s.

“And you knew nothing of this, yes?” Janus asked, raising an eyebrow.

Patton raised his hand. “Swear on my life,” he whispered.

Janus nodded, wringing his hands. “Okay… okay.”

“But-” And Patton cut himself off, sighing shakily “-I really,  _ really _ need you to believe me when I say that, because… because…”

“Because what?” Janus snapped, and Patton hoped it was just the stress that made his words so biting. “Spit it out!”

Patton looked down. “Is there a way I could… get to the wall without drawing too much attention?”

At Janus’s silence, Patton slowly looked back up at him.

And winced at the cold, hard look in Janus’s eye. He wondered if Janus held the same cold look in his other eye, behind the eyepatch.

“What are you planning?” Janus asked slowly.

“Nothing! I promise!” Patton pleaded as he took a step closer. “I just… those knights that are marching here were sent by my father. I… I need to hear what they have to say. If I can just get close enough...”

Janus studied him closely, his eye narrowing.

“Janus, I swear to you,” Patton whispered. “I have sworn before, and I will keep swearing. I will never bring any harm to your family. I just want to know.”

Janus was silent for another moment before sighing and nodding. “Fine,” he said. “There is… another way in and out of the castle. A secret entrance that will bring you out closer to the wall without any loud doors, and less of a chance of someone hearing you coming.”

Patton nodded.

Janus then took a step forward, jutting a finger at Patton’s chest. “This is the one and only time you will ever see this entrance, clear?”

He nodded again. “Crystal.”

Then, with little hesitation, Janus began his way briskly back down the hallway, and Patton quickly followed behind.

Though, as he realized Janus was approaching the throne room, his steps slowed. 

He remembered Virgil telling him how none of the brothers went into the throne room anymore.

He worried his bottom lip as Janus, from underneath his collar, pulled out a gold chain necklace with two small keys hanging off of it, one silver, one gold.

And, for just a moment, Janus’s hand froze as he went to unlock it. Patton stepped up alongside him, and saw that his eye was squeezed shut.

“Janus, if-” Patton was then cut off by Janus unlocking the door with the silver key and sharply turning the knob.

Patton couldn’t help but cough as a dust plume burst through the open doorway, and he held a hand to his mouth and nose as Janus strided in.

Waving his hand to clear the dust and hesitantly following Janus in, he realized that the best way to describe the throne room was still. Too still. So still, and so quiet, that it made his skin crawl. The room was dark, the velvet curtains collecting dust as they blocked out the windows. A long rug tread across the middle of the floor, and his and Janus’s careful footsteps left indents as they walked.

On either side of the rug, two rows of busts watched them. Past kings and queens, all immortalized in stone cold marble, watched their descendant and their new guest as they neared the front of the room. 

Patton couldn’t help but notice the empty marble plinth at the end of the row. Its plaque was scratched out, as if someone took a chisel to whatever name was once engraved. Livius Anguine was the king to precede it and, thinking back to the family portrait hanging in the dining room, he looked to Janus and wondered if it was out of grief or anger that he carved his own name out. Maybe it was both.

And then, at the end of the room, sat a throne. Or, at least, Patton assumed it was a throne under the white tarp that had been thrown over it.

Patton couldn’t help but look around at the room—the room that felt haunted with ghosts of past lives and remnants of what could have been—yet Janus passed through it coolly. He led Patton to the end of the rug, where its tassels met the step that ascended to the throne, and shooed him off. Then, stepping off himself, he lifted up the rug, revealing a wooden trap door in the midst of the tile.

“A secret passageway,” Janus murmured. “A safe exit for the royal family.”

“Oh.” Patton didn’t know what else to say.

Janus didn’t say anything and, instead, with the gold key, unlocked the trapdoor. 

“I will be waiting here for you,” Janus said. “Don’t even try anything.”

“I won’t,” Patton assured. “I just… I don’t know how long I’ll be.”

“Just don’t draw attention to yourself and we’ll be fine.”

Whatever momentary calmness Patton fell into vanished as Janus swung open the trapdoor and both of them were met with a steep staircase leading down into a dark hallway.

He never really considered himself scared of the dark, but he figured that there was a first time for anything.

“I’m sure you’ll forgive the darkness,” Janus said, eyeing him, “Seeing as we’ve had no reason to use this passageway for a century now.”

Patton nodded and swallowed his nerves. “It’s fine.”

He forced a smile, which Janus didn’t seem to believe.

Though, Janus still sighed and said, “You’ll be fine. Nothing’s down there. Just keep walking forward and eventually you’ll get to another staircase.” He then held out the gold key. “You’ll need this. Bring it back to me.”

“Okay,” Patton said quietly. “Thank you.”

Janus nodded and stepped back, gesturing to the descending staircase.

Patton, taking one final look down, took a deep breath and pressed forward.

The passageway, drowning Patton in the scent of damp earth, seemed to get darker as Patton’s feet carried him. Instinctively, he walked with his hands out in front of him, his right fist clutching the gold key. He kept his eyes trained ahead as he slowly walked, his ears attuned to the sound of each footstep, or an occasional drip of water.

And, when his foot finally hit a step immersed in darkness, he’d be lying if he said that he didn’t let out a little yelp before slapping a hand over his mouth.

Ascending the stairs, slowly and carefully, he eventually reached another trap door and, fumbling for both the key and the lock, he let out a deep breath when he finally managed to unlock the passage.

It took three tries for Patton to push the trapdoor up and open, the door having been sewn shut years ago by the brush and bramble of the abandoned kingdom. 

And, when he did finally step out, everything was quiet. Quiet and still. Looking around, he was notably behind the castle, in an area with nothing but collapsing stone fences. Where the fence met the Vine Wall, the stone was nothing more than debris, with then various states of wear and tear around the rest of the area.

Listening closely, he heard nothing, no birds, no rustling of leaves, no footsteps.

Still, though, he quietly stepped over the debris as he neared the Vine Wall, and began to walk the perimeter.

It was when he reached the area that he himself came through over a week ago that he began to hear the steady thump of marching feet on the other side and, his heart cinching, he froze in his tracks.

“Perimeter in sight, Captain!” A soldier called out.

“Noted!” The Captain’s voice called back. “Prepare for an approach! Have your weapons drawn!”

Patton, with his knees shaking, nearly collapsed to the ground, and was thankful for the overgrown grass that muffled it. His stomach knotted and his throat tightened as footsteps marched their way around the perimeter, obviously fanning out to prepare for any type of assault or scouting on all ends. 

He believed Janus when he said that no soldier would be able to get through the wall, but Patton also knew that he himself was able to enter, which seemed to be a feat which no one understood.

So, he just hoped that whatever magic was at work within the castle was in his favor.

“Soldiers, report!” The Captain bellowed out. “Any signs of life, or way of entry?”

“Nothing here, Sir!” A soldier called out, far to Patton’s left.

Another voice came from the right, “Nothing here as well!”

When the Captain spoke again, their voice was turned away, as if they were speaking to someone behind them. Which, considering that situation paired with their words, Patton—over the sudden plummeting of his stomach and ringing in his ears—prayed that he misheard.

“Our soldiers have found nothing, Your Majesty.”

Because it couldn’t be. The King of the Hartt Kingdom, a man who detested the Twisted Wood and all creatures that resided in it (undead and not), would not have actually stepped foot within the forest, let alone bring himself to the Vine Wall. Not after he so clearly chastised Logan for thinking that Patton would wind up in the forest, nor with his adamant warning that Logan himself should not walk into the forest. Not at all, it couldn’t be, because-

“Nothing, you say?” Patton bit his lip harshly as his father’s voice boomed out. “Is that correct, Captain?”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Well-” And King Titus’s voice grew louder as he approached “-Are you then telling me that this trip has been pointless? Just like I told you it would be?”

“Well, we- I-”

“Have you tried slicing through the vines?”

A pause. Patton thought it would last forever. “Slicing through, Your Majesty?”

“Did I misspeak?”

“No! No, Your Majesty. It is just that… the legends say that-”

“I know what the legends say!” The King snapped. “I also know that you are disobeying my orders by questioning me!”

The Captain was silent, but the sound of something swiping through the air followed by a dull thud gave Patton the implication that their sword did nothing to the vines.

He breathed a silent  _ thank you. _

“My… my sword did nothing, Your Majesty.”

The King hummed. “So I see.”

“Is- Is there anything else you require of us?”

“Oh, require? What I  _ require  _ is to know why you coerced me into going on this pointless task?” At the silence that followed, the King snapped, “That is not a rhetorical question!”

“Oh, yes, apologies, Your Majesty. It is just… Prince Patton has been missing for ten days now,” the Captain explained (and Patton balled the grass in his fists in hopes of feeling stabilized). “Our soldiers in the surrounding villages have seen no sight of him. I believed that it would be… helpful to search out the Wood. If we cannot locate him here… I think it might be time to alert neighboring kingdoms that the Prince is-”

Patton winced as his father’s booming voice interrupted them. “The one thing we are not doing is alerting neighboring kingdoms! They will see this disappearance as a weakness, and then what would become of my kingdom? Am I to allow my kingdom to be seen as weak, as conquerable, just because my son wants to- what? Roam the countryside instead of learning how to be a true king?”

“Your Majesty, all of our troops have reported no sign of him in any of our villages.”

“Then order them to search again! To imply that my son would walk into these Woods- has anyone no respect for history? Has my son?”

“Your Majesty-”

“If my son truly wishes to show that he is not the fool that he has proven to be in the past, then he will get over this act of rebellion and return to the castle! I truly hope that I have raised a son who is smart enough to know that the Twisted Wood and all the _ things _ inside of it are to be avoided! He has always let these- these reckless emotions cloud his responsibilities, and now he is only harming himself as he shirks his duties! And to think that Logan has fallen manipulated to these impulses...”

“Should we not be concerned that Prince Patton was perhaps taken? Sieged? That a similar target was placed on Mage Apprentice Logan?”

“Our security at the castle would not simply let some criminal snatch my son from his quarters! No, no, this was my son’s doing. He has only led us on a wild goose chase.” 

“But, Your Majesty, what if the Prince and his Advisor are in these woods? In  _ there?” _

All was quiet, for just a moment.

And then the moment passed, and the King answered.

“Then I reckon they should stay in there. If they so willingly choose to walk into the realm of the monsters, after all the history and legends they know? They would not want to face me afterwards.”

Patton hadn’t realized he was crying until the tears were dripping down onto his hands. He had been too distracted by the sour taste in his mouth, the churning in his stomach.

Too distracted, too terrified, by his father’s words to pay mind to himself.

A reckless rebel, a manipulative fool.

His father was so close to finding him, so close to unleashing the wrath that he threatened… and yet he had no wish to. The Knight-Captain had to convince him to venture into the forest, the knights in their villages were the ones helming the search. 

To his father, alerting the neighboring kingdoms would be a sign of weakness instead of a cry for help…

To his father, this was all a tantrum. A bratty prince acting out. An irresponsible son ignoring his responsibilities.

(Responsibilities that clung to Patton’s neck so tightly, something he forgot how to breathe.)

Patton had no wish to return home but, in all his twenty years of life, he had never felt so unwelcome.

He had never felt so homeless.

With one shaking hand clenched tightly to his mouth, he placed the other on the tangled vines, and failed to sync his ragged breathing to the steady tempo of the knights marching away.

To be what his father wanted, to be a “true king,” he would have to leave. He  _ could  _ leave. He could ask Virgil, who has given him a way out before, or he could ask  _ any _ of the brothers. Some of them probably wouldn’t even hesitate to see Patton leave. He could ask Logan to leave with him, and Logan would. And they could go back to the kingdom, tails between their legs, and all they could hope for was that they would be forgiven soon enough.

Patton, however, didn’t want to leave.

He might have no home, but he suddenly felt much more welcome in the Anguine Castle than he ever did in the Hartt Kingdom.

That thought—that sudden detachment from all that he has known—sent another chorus of sobs that racked through his chest, loud and painful and no longer worried about being overheard.

A heavy weight, one that he had hoped to leave behind, began to crawl back into its rightful place on his shoulders.

And perhaps it was that knowledge, the knowledge that he could never truly run away, that hurt the most.

When he finally calmed down, or at least managed to stop the tears from streaking down his face, he released a shaky, uneven breath. 

Pressed his fingers to his temples. 

Fished the golden key out from where he dropped it in the grass.

And, with the scraps of energy he had left, stood.

Patton barely registered his walk back to the throne room, didn’t even feel a spike in his heart beat as he strode through darkness. His feet simply carried him whilst his brain toiled in fog and tried to piece apart fact from fiction.

Maybe his father was wrong. Maybe Patton wasn’t irresponsible, wasn’t running away.

Or maybe _ he _ was the one who was wrong. Maybe he should’ve turned to face his problems, or should’ve sucked it up and pressed forward.

All he knew was that he couldn’t leave his problems behind, not truly. They would only come back to haunt him, and their cold hands would only entrap others in a web that held Patton tightly at its center.

Patton released another breath.

When he finally pushed open the throne room’s trap door, he was met with Janus sitting on the step before the late king’s throne, readjusting his gloves.

Janus didn’t even look up as he said, “So, should we be preparing for your departure? Have you decided to let your knights escort you home?”

Patton simply just walked over to Janus and held the key out to him. “No. I’m staying.”

Janus startled and looked up at him, his eyebrows furrowing. 

Slowly, he accepted the key and stumbled out, “Not- not that I wanted you to… leave… not exactly, I- I just thought- if they were looking for you-”

Patton wasn’t used to seeing Janus so lost for words, and if he was in brighter spirits, maybe he would have smiled.

This was not one of those times.

“It’s okay,” Patton said. “I’m not offended.”

Janus stared up at him for a moment longer.

Patton continued, “I’m going to return to my quarters.”

Janus, still watching him, nodded.

It was when Patton’s hand was on the door knob that Janus said, “Are you… alright?”

Patton didn’t turn back. “I’m fine.”

And he walked out.

The castle was cold and quiet as he traversed the stairs, and his body only ached more as he thought about the warmth his bed would bring, and how he hoped it would be enough to take the chill from his chest.

Yet, as he passed through the brothers’ corridor, he stopped at the sight of a figure down the hall, in front of Virgil’s door at the end. Even in the shadows, he could see the glint of red hair reflected in the candles that were still dimly lit. He had a fist pressed to Virgil’s door, not knocking but just resting, and mumbling something Patton couldn’t quite catch.

Taking a step forward, Patton winced when the floorboards creaked.

The brother jumped and spun around, and-

Where Patton expected Roman, he found Remus.

Remus stared at him for only a second longer with his mouth agape, as if he was weighing two options in his head, before his shoulders slumped and he turned back to Virgil’s door, his quiet murmurings resuming.

Patton, after a hesitation, began to walk towards Virgil’s door and, as he got closer, he could pick up on what Remus was saying:

“-you’re in there, Vi. Just- we’re fine, okay? You’re scared- I  _ know _ you’re in there. You don’t have to- I’m  _ here, _ and- I know things are bad but if you just let me-  _ why _ are you being so-  _ please, _ just let me-”

“Is Virgil okay?” Patton, his voice barely over a whisper, interrupted.

Remus tensed and clenched his fists, his clawed nails dragging down Virgil’s door.

“Okay?” Remus hissed, tilting his head towards Patton. “Oh, sure, he’s fucking great, with  _ your family _ ready to bust down our doors.”

Patton winced and tried to ignore the stinging behind his eyes.

Whatever panicked version of Remus that Patton saw before was replaced by a ferocity that he has yet to see.

“I didn’t- didn’t know,” Patton fumbled, his voice shaking. “I didn’t want them to-”

“It doesn’t matter!” Remus snapped, whipping his head to face Virgil’s door again. “Virgil’s freaking out, and  _ I _ can’t even talk to him, so maybe you should just go and-”

And then, both Remus and Patton froze as Virgil’s door cracked open and, through the opening, a single dark eye looked out.

And went straight to Patton.

“Patton,” Virgil whispered, or perhaps it was a gasp.

Remus, with a look on his face that Patton couldn’t quite decipher, took a stumbling step back as he gaped at him.

“V-Virgil?” Patton stammered, taking a small step forward.

Virgil, however, said nothing, and all Patton registered was a cold hand shooting out and grabbing his wrist before dragging him into the room.

The last thing Patton saw before the door slammed shut behind him was Remus staring blankly right back at him.

And then, when he turned to Virgil, for just a moment, he wished he was back in the hall.

In the darkness, Virgil was ghostly. His cheeks were so sunken in, Patton could easily see the definition of his cheekbones. The dark circles under his eyes were so prominent, they looked like they were artificial. His hands, almost skeletal, were shaking as they tightly gripped Patton’s hand, and the cold was that of the dead. His lips were thin, he seemed to drown in his clothes, his shoulders were hunched…

If Patton didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought he was in the room with a corpse.

“Virgil,” Patton whispered.

“Told you.” Virgil’s voice was trembling as he forced a pained smile. “Bad things happen when I'm around.”

The rush of understanding brought on a guilt so heavy, Patton almost collapsed under it.

The Hartt Kingdom tried to break through again, and so Virgil was preparing to die.

And so Patton swallowed his feelings.

He had to be there for Virgil, _ wanted _ to be there for Virgil.

His own feelings could wait.

“Virgil,” Patton repeated, shaking his head. With his free hand, he placed it over Virgil’s and rubbed them, as if he could put warmth back in. “You’re- you’re safe, okay? Nothing is going to happen-”

Virgil’s face crumpled as he shook his head, though no tears came out. “No- no, you don’t understand! They’re- they’re coming and- and I should’ve known, I should’ve warned us and- and-”

“Virgil!” Patton repeated and, taking his hands away, he took a step closer and gently cupped his cold face. Virgil immediately grabbed for Patton’s hands again, clutching them as Patton held his face.

“Patton,” Virgil whimpered.

“I swear to you,” Patton said gently, “You are safe here. Those soldiers… my family… they’re gone. They left. I promise you, Virgil, you are  _ okay. _ I am not going to let anything happen to you.”

Virgil ducked his head against his chest.  _ “Please _ don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not.” Patton tilted his head up. “I would never.”

“I just- I needed- I really wanted you here and- I trust you and I just- I just thought- I’m sorry, I just-”

“Shh,” Patton shushed, shaking his head. “Don’t apologize, okay? I want to help you, Virgil. I want to  _ be here _ for you.”

Virgil, in a motion so sudden Patton could barely see it, pulled him into a tight hug, his arms wrapped around Patton’s neck like he was his lifeline.

Patton, as if it was instinct, hugged him back.

“I can’t do it,” Virgil whispered. “Not again.”

“It’s not happening again,” Patton said. “It’s going to be okay.”

“This- this hurts even more when you can’t breathe.”

Patton’s heart cinched.

“You’re safe here,” he reassured, rubbing his back. “Nothing is going to happen to you. To _ any _ of you.”

Virgil clutched him tighter. “Thank you.”

Patton wanted to tell him that he shouldn’t be thanking him, that Patton was the reason the knights showed up in the first place. That he was a coward and a failure and a fool and no matter how hard he tried, things could never be good.

That Virgil deserved tranquility, and Patton wanted to give it to him but was so,  _ so _ scared that he couldn’t.

But he didn’t say that.

Instead, he said, “I just want to be here for you.”

“Then just stay,” Virgil whispered. “Please.”

Patton nestled his head in the crook of Virgil’s neck. “I was never planning on leaving.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading!!!! ngl with this chapter, the past couple ones, and what i have planned next, we're starting to get into some plot points/arcs that i've been planning since this fic began, and can i just say.......... i'm fucking excited omg
> 
> also bc i don't think i've promo'd it here before!!! he is a spotify link for the playlist i made for this fic!!!! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4NjShJtX1AEscec1upGWBo?si=UMC8RxPLQeiAcrnur3QaZw

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!!
> 
> the only thing that i ask is, if you liked this, please consider leaving kudos/commenting/sharing!! i'm currently looking at the prologue and the first chapter (which is complete and will be posted very soon) as this fic's "trial run," so what i'm hoping for is people's thoughts and opinions! i'm very excited for what i have planned, and i want to see how you all take to the idea as well :)
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


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